Easy to grow and nutritious, chickpea is a choice culture… at least for mediterranean people, since it doesn’t really like cold!

 

What is chickpea?

From the legume family, chickpea is the cousin of small peas. Round in shape and beige in color, it is very fragrant and does not deform during the cooking process.

Origin:

A legume native to the Middle East, chickpeas have been consumed since the dawn of time, as is mentioned in Mesopotamian writings dating back to the third millennium BC. In Arabic, chickpea is pronounced “hum’mus”, the name we give to the popular chickpea dip often consumed all over the world. Chickpea comes from the latin cicer. Plutarch explains that one of  roman emperor Cicero’s ancestors was originally given this name because of a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea

And Chickpea flour?

With its high protein content, chickpea flour is very satiating. Developed from a legume, it does not rise and should be combined with other flours in baking.

Health and nutrition:

From a nutritional point of view, it is a little champion of the legume family, with its high rate of carbohydrate intake and its high quality of vegetable protein.