Cypriot Louvana (Λουβάνα), Yellow Split Pea Soup

Cypriot louvana (Λουβάνα) is the island's yellow split pea soup, thickened with rice and sweet leek until it sits between a broth and a puree. It belongs to the nistisima table, the Orthodox fasting table, but it isn't punishment food. The bowl is pale gold, glossy with olive oil, and bright enough with lemon to wake the whole pot.

The method is humble, with one place where you pay attention. Once the rice goes in, keep the flame low and stir like you mean it, because split peas and rice settle and catch at the bottom before they soften into each other. Let them cook slowly and the peas collapse around the grains, making a soup that needs no butter, no stock, no fuss.

I serve it with lemon at the table and a last thread of olive oil, the way a Cypriot house makes a small pot generous. A cook from Nicosia wrote in my notebook, 'more lemon than you think.' She was right. The region is the dish's surname, and Cyprus keeps this one plain.