Wednesday, March 18, 2009

English Peas


I got in my first case of English peas for the season. I know it’s too early to be local, but they are nice, plump, and clean. It is one of my favorite tasks, shucking English peas. It is so very mindless, trivial, monotonous work. Fortunately, there are no knives or heat involved which means you can just stare at the wall and think about absolutely nothing and shuck for hours in this weird culinary meditation.

In the past after the peas are shucked I’ve found myself wanting to puree them, or mold them, or in some way twist them from the perfect green spherical shape they are happy to be in. I’ve learned my lessons. I’m looking to take a more mature approach this year and stick with blanching, butter, and sel gris.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

So pretty!

rhodora said...

I agree. Shucking peas (and also fava beans) is meditative! Love eating peas just raw too! Good on simple salads! Tis the season!