Boiled Green Peas

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Yield
4.0 – 5.0 persons
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (6)
Instructions (9)
  1. Shell the peas, wash them well in cold water, and drain them.
  2. Put them into a saucepan with plenty of fast-boiling water, to which salt and moist sugar have been added in the proportion of 1 small teaspoonful of sugar and 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt per 1/2 gallon of water.
  3. Let them boil quickly over a brisk fire, with the lid of the saucepan uncovered.
  4. Be careful that the smoke does not draw in.
  5. When tender, pour them into a colander.
  6. Put them into a hot vegetable-dish.
  7. Place a piece of butter, the size of a walnut, in the centre of the peas.
  8. Many cooks boil a small bunch of mint with the peas, or garnish them with it, by boiling a few sprigs in a saucepan by themselves.
  9. If the peas are very old and difficult to boil a good colour, a very tiny piece of soda may be thrown in the water previous to putting them in, but this must be very sparingly used, as it causes the peas, when boiled, to have a smashed and broken appearance. With young peas, there is not the slightest occasion to use it.
Original Text
BOILED GREEN PEAS. 1133. INGREDIENTS.—Green peas; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 small teaspoonful of moist sugar, 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt. Mode.—This delicious vegetable, to be eaten in perfection, should be young, and not gathered or shelled long before it is dressed. Shell the peas, wash them well in cold water, and drain them; then put them into a saucepan with plenty of fast-boiling water, to which salt and moist sugar have been added in the above proportion; let them boil quickly over a brisk fire, with the lid of the saucepan uncovered, and be careful that the smoke does not draw in. When tender, pour them into a colander; put them into a hot vegetable-dish, and quite in the centre of the peas place a piece of butter, the size of a walnut. Many cooks boil a small bunch of mint with the peas, or garnish them with it, by boiling a few sprigs in a saucepan by themselves. Should the peas be very old, and difficult to boil a good colour, a very tiny piece of soda may be thrown in the water previous to putting them in; but this must be very sparingly used, as it causes the peas, when boiled, to have a smashed and broken appearance. With young peas, there is not the slightest occasion to use it. Time.—Young peas, 10 to 15 minutes; the large sorts, such as marrowfats, &c., 18 to 24 minutes; old peas, 1/2 hour. Average cost, when cheapest, 6d. per peck; when first in season, 1s. to 1s. 6d. per peck. Sufficient.—Allow 1 peck of unshelled peas for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable from June to the end of August. ORIGIN OF THE PEA.—All the varieties of garden peas which are cultivated have originated from the Pisum sativum, a native of the south of Europe; and field peas are varieties of Pisum arvense. The Everlasting Pea is Lathyrus latifolius, an old favourite in flower-gardens. It is said to yield an abundance of honey to bees, which are remarkably fond of it. In this country the pea has been grown from time immemorial; but its culture seems to have diminished since the more general introduction of herbage, plants, and roots.
Notes
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