Historpea Lesson

FEATURED VEGGIE OF THE WEEK: PEAS

VARIETIES: SUGAR ANN SNAP PEAS AND OREGON GIANT SNOW PEAS

For your information, snap peas are a cross between English green peas and snow peas, and snow peas are a thin, flat pea. Both can be trimmed to get rid of the stringy part that holds the pod together. Simply cut off the tips of the pods with a knife, and pull along the pod to remove the stringy bit. Personally, I prefer peas raw, but they can certainly be cooked. When cooking be sure to only cook for a few minutes or else you risk creating a dreadful monster...the soggy pea.

And now what you have all been waiting for...HISTORPEA!

Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old.

ONCE UPON A TIME....

"A large kettle containing a thick porridge made of peas hung over the fire in many English and Scottish homes during the Middle Ages and was customary even in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Because few of the peasants could afford meat, they based their meals on pease porridge with an abundance of whatever vegetables were on hand. When the fire died down at night, the morning porridge was quite cold. Each day the fire was relit, and more peas and vegetables were added to the kettle. Indeed, the original ingredients in the kettle could have been nine days old."

*Historpea was brought to you today by vegparadise.com*

WHAT'S IN YOUR BOX?

WEEK THREE:

Heirloom Lettuces
Rainbow Chard
Spring Vidalia Onions
Sweet Peas
Arugula
Kohlrabi Bulb and Greens
Kales (Red Russian and Lacinato)
Turnips
Parsley,Chives and Mint!

SAY WHAT?

"There is nothing so innocent, so confiding in its expression, as the small green face of the freshly shelled spring pea. Asparagus is pushing and bossy, lettuce is loud and blowsy, radishes are gay and playful, but the little green pea is so helpless and friendly that it makes really sensitive stomachs suffer to see the way he is treated in the average home. Fling him into the water and let him boil--and that's that." William Wallace Irwin