"Fish and chips without mushy peas? That's just not right!"
Seven-plus years into my life in the USA, and people are still asking me what I miss about England. Most of them are food-related, things like pork pies, Cornish pasties, The Pub, fish and chips. I miss rain; living in California's Central Valley, there's not a lot of it, even in our wet winter season. I regret leaving behind narrow streets, ancient buildings and the BBC. Some of these things I can find; Cornish pasties are available quite locally, or by frozen-mail-order. There are narrow streets and older buildings an hour's drive away, and I can put the sprinkler on for pretend rain. There is even a fish-and-chip shop in Davis, and I have eaten there, but it lacks the atmosphere of a true British experience. And most of all, it lacks comfort. It lacks mushy peas.
Serving of mushy peas - credit to Wikipedia |
So what are mushy peas? Well, firstly, this is a comfort food, filling and warm. Once a staple of a poor family's diet, the dish at its simplest comprises boiled marrowfat peas, and at this level, it is, as Willie Rushton once said "the world's almost only grey food". That he said this of porridge may tell you something of the nature of the beast. Yer basic pease
made in this fashion is fairly bland, and the kind of grey-green that I
think a space-alien's skin should be. In fact, given this unappetising
description, it's hard to imagine why it's so popular.
But popular they are. In most parts of England, a decent chippy will
have them on the menu. When sold, they are green, with a texture ranging
from a thick soupyness to a fairly stodgy pottage. The green colour is achieved by cheating with food colourings,
the texture depends on the supplier or recipe. Most of the cheaper
shops buy their supplies in tins, but (rarely, these days) some do make
them in-house. If you are fortunate enough to have such an emporium
close at hand, relish the fact. But do not tell me, as I will become
jealous.
How Mushy Peas Are Made
The basic marrowfat pea is large, starchy and tough as old boots. Like its distant cousin the chickpea (aka garbanzo bean),
it is picked when fully mature and dried, not young and juicy.
Preparation begins in the same way as the garbanzo, being soaked
overnight and simmered until soft enough to eat. Buying packets of pease
in the supermarket is the best way forward, and ofttimes the packet
will contain a tablet of bicarbonate of soda (more about that later). In some areas you may also be fortunate enough to be able to buy in bulk.
There are those, including the dreadful Jamie Oliver,
who would have you make this with garden peas. Yes, you will have a pea
dish, but it will lack that quality of true British
"sticks-to-your-ribs" quality that is traditional. Mushy peas simply
demand to be made with the correct ingredients, Mister Oliver, so stick
that in your pipe and smoke it. I have also seen recipes that add meat
or meat broth, but in my opinion, that's more associated with pease pudding.
So let us begin. Eight ounces of pease will make for a good helping for
four people. If buying them loose or in bulk, check for foreign bodies
like bugs and grit, and wash them thoroughly. Place them in a bowl or
pan and cover with lots of water, seriously lots. I err on the side of
too much, although a pint and a half will suffice. (Time was, I'd
convert to metric and whatnot, but not today.)
Now, to the baking soda. Some people add this because it does help
preserve the greenness of the dish, but at a cost, in that it reduces
the content of vitamin C and the B vitamins.
The choice is yours; personally if I want the buggers green, I will add
some food colouring, or cook up and mash some garden peas and stir them
in before serving.
Once they are well-soaked, they will be plump and firm as fresh peaches,
and can be cooked. Add them to a pint of water in a pan, add a little
salt and bring them to the boil, then simmer for around twenty minutes,
stirring every few minutes. The peas will begin to break down and in
time, form a fairly thick soup, and this is where you can ring the
changes and play with the texture of the dish. Adding more or less water
changes the dish radically. Some people like the idea of the stodgy
mass that seems to have become the norm, but as I prefer mine a little
moister, I tend to leave a little more water. If I have time, and think
enough about it, I take about a third out when they are still al dente, so there's an even wider textural range.
At this point, the dish is more or less ready. Some people cook it
longer to create a more even texture, some people mash it up with a
fork. I wait until the liquor is beginning to really thicken, and add a
knob of butter and some pepper and cook for a minute or two longer.
There is also a cheat for speeding up the preparation time, one I use
with many pulses. This involves fast-boiling the pease for ten minutes,
and letting them stand in that water for an hour or so. I say "or so"
because unless I'm in a big hurry, I leave them for an hour and a half,
but they can be left for some hours in the fridge. Then, I drain and
wash the pease and cook them up.
Serving Options
As a little wertperch, I was taken to Nottingham's Goose Fair, and at the time, one of the food treats available (alongside candyfloss, toffee apples and "cocks on sticks"¹) was a bowl of mushy peas served with mint sauce. Seriously warming on a damp and chilly autumn day, and very, very popular.
There are many local serving options, such as in the Midlands and North,
where a popular dish is the "pea mix" of chips smothered in peas. I've
seen spoonfuls of it deep-fried in batter and served as a "pea fritter",
I've had bowls of it with sprinklings of pepper and malt vinegar, and in one wonderful meal in Malham, ladled over a meat pie.
The possibilities are endless, and I admit that it's a dish I manage to
miss whenever I buy fish and chips. Perhaps I need to go on a crusade to introduce the dish to every American "chippy". Wish me luck.
¹ A sugar confection, shaped like a cockerel. On a stick.
Originally posted on Everything2.com
1 comment:
Now I want pea fritters and chips (fries, whatever) with some of this on top, too. Darn it, America!
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