SC - SC: pea recipe

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/5/99 4:00:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, allilyn at juno.com
writes:

<< But the recipes called for peas, not pea pods.  Ever tried making pea pod
 soup?
 
 
 Regards,
 
 Allison >>

As a matter of fact , yes. They turn to mush in a very short time. :-). IIRC,
getting the peas to a state of mush was one of the instructions.

Also the recipe in question can also be made by using dried peas . My question
is about whether the recipe was intended to be used with fresh green shelled
peas. I don't personally think so.

Granted that AM believes that a corrobarating recipe in the same tome which is
very similar does call for peas in the pod and in this she is most certainly
correct. However, the existence of a similar recipe does not , IMO,
necessarily translate into the fact that this one would use fresh green peas. 

Instructions to remove the peas from their pods could also refer to removing
dried peas from their husks. Another possible twist on the interpretation
might be that the pea in pod version was meant for early summer use and the
peas out of pod version was meant to be used in the off season.with dried
peas. 

As was noted there is a definite logic to AM's theory. My main concern is that
all the references to period use of peas that I am AWARE of points to the use
of dried peas or podded sugar peas. The illogical part, for me, is that sugar
peas, and indeed, almost all non-petite pois varieties of peas have a VERY
short period of time, a matter of a couple of days, when they are sweet and
succulent enough to be used as fresh shelled peas. Their palatability at this
stage is of such a short duration that I find it inexplicable why such a
recipe for their use would be included in the manuscript. at all.

In the meantime, we have a great tasting redaction from AM that might be
correct so why not use it? :-)

Ras

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