Soaking the legumes is a fundamental step before preparing them. Ideally, they should remain in warm water for 12 hours before cooking, that is, at least the night before. A long period during which X user @el_floriano could not help but get philosophical and ask himself: “Why do some lentils float and others stay at the bottom?” And he further added: “Are the ones that float dead or what?” With this innocent question, this cook had unknowingly opened a debate as absurd as it was viral.
Food technologist Miguel Ángel Lurueña echoed this fun question yesterday through his Instagram account (@gominolasdepetroleo). The expert, with more than 95,000 followers on this social network, came up with the resolution that would clarify that existential doubt with lentils for all of us: “Those that float have not yet been moistened and are kept afloat by the surface tension of the water or “because of the air that remains between them when they are grouped together.” An explanation that the rest of the users have overlooked is that the post has then been filled with ‘only incorrect answers’.
Once the real explanation is known, the joke caused by this question has been a trend on social networks in the last few hours. As if it were a joke, to the question “why do lentils float?”, Instagram users have responded with all kinds of niceties, such as “because they are from Padrón, some float and others don’t,” which @ santi_biogeo. Alluding to other topics, @estergo_myspics believes that “those that sink are those that have iron,” while @xpfoxitos goes to the Testament to find divine reason: “They have given them to you mixed, those of Jesus Christ walk above the water”.
On Twitter, all kinds of witty and original responses have also been seen, such as the one given by the user @ivlandin, who explains that the lentils that float are only a few of those that learn to swim: “They are part of a select squadron of elite legumes trained by the forklift driver, lord of the asparagus.” Others like Pablo Rodríguez (@PUriburuBilbo) have used the play on words: “Some sink quickly, but others are more lentils”, so those that float are automatically called “rapidejas”, according to Bruno Vaccotti ( @peztresojos). While @ralfines concludes that those that float “never make any decisions… They don’t get wet.”
