In Season: Snap peas sweet off the vine

In the 1950s, Dr. Calvin Lamborn was working in Twin Falls, Idaho, doing plant breeding. Specifically, he was trying to curtail a tendency of snow pea stems to twist and buckle, so he made crosses of snow peas with a range of English peas.

One cross, he noticed, had pods that were far less fibrous than regular English peas. He started working with this hybrid, improving it, finally breeding out the tough string that ran the length of the pod.

Though the pod was edible, like snow peas whose seeds haven’t yet developed, the hybrid didn’t remain flat. Peas formed inside it, and Lamborn realized that here was a new pea that could be eaten in its entirety - what the French call “mange tout,” meaning “eat all.”

By the 1970s, he was ready to introduce this development, but what to call it? Well, string beans had by that time become snap beans, as the string had been bred out of them. So he called this new pea the “snap pea.” And an industry was born.

While snap peas are excellent in salads, stir fries, and rice dishes, English (or garden) peas are superior in sweetness and flavor, at least if they’re picked right off the vine. English peas start losing their sweetness the moment they’re picked, so what you will find at the stores now are peas that have lost some sweetness. You may find sweeter peas at the farmer’s market.

Whether you grow them yourself or buy them fresh at the markets, they are still better than commercially frozen peas. So if you want to put up some peas for next winter, here’s a way that will preserve their pea-season freshness. Look for peas that are barely touching each other if at all, but not crowded in their pods. Big crowded peas tend to be less sweet and mealier than younger ones. Crush a pea between your thumb and forefinger. It should mash, not fall apart into two halves. If it mashes, your peas are at their peak. First blanch the peas in their pods in plain boiling water for a minute to a minute and a half, drain, and put into freezer bags, then twist tie them shut. Freeze.

Next Thanksgiving, pull out a freezer bag and set it in a bowl of water hot from the tap. When the pea pods are thawed out and rubbery, shell out the peas inside into a saucepan and discard the pods. Add a half teaspoon of sugar and a small pinch of salt along with cold water to just cover the peas and very gently heat them until they’re hot, but don’t boil and cook them. Drain and serve while hot. Those peas will taste summer fresh.

Peas are legumes, like beans and lentils, and so are very nutritious. One half-cup of peas contains 67 calories, no cholesterol, 12 grams of carbohydrates, six gram of protein, two or three grams of dietary fiber, 13 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C, 18 percent of thiamine, 13 percent of B6, 13 percent of folic acid, 8 percent of iron, 11 percent of niacin, 10 percent of riboflavin, 8 percent of magnesium, and 6 percent of potassium. That’s a heap of nutrition for a half cup of any food.

Peas are a vegetable that keeps giving in many ways. Pea blossom make a pretty addition to spring-fresh salads. And the tender, last two inches of elongating pea vines - the little packet of leaves and tendrils - are a culinary item in their own right, sweated and eaten like a potherb (leaf vegetable), or even eaten raw if tender enough.

As James Joyce wrote in his novel Ulysses, “Mint your peas!” Good advice from a great writer. Minted peas make a fine accompaniment to roast lamb or pork or a succulent roast chicken. This recipe calls for butter, but if you have a really good extra virgin olive oil, you can use a quarter-cup of that as a substitute.

Minted Peas

Makes 4 servings

2 cups shelled English peas

1 small bunch mint, stems tied together with butcher’s string

- Pinch of sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

- Juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Place the peas in a saucepan and lay the mint on top. Fill the tea kettle and set on high heat until the water boils.

Pour boiling water over the mint and peas until they’re just covered. Put the saucepan on the high heat burner, cover with a lid, and bring it to a boil.

When it boils, cook for about two minutes until the peas are perfect and tender. Immediately drain the peas and mint in a colander. Remove the mint to a cutting board.

Chop some of the mint leaves - no stems - until you have 3-4 tablespoons of them, and stir them back into the peas.

Put the peas and mint mixture into a serving bowl, add the salt and pepper, lemon juice, and the butter, and toss to coat. Cover and set aside for a half-hour for the flavors to marry and intensify.

Jeff Cox is a Kenwood-based food and garden writer. Email him at jeff.cox@sonic.net