[Sca-cooks] pease porridge?

[Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise]

Oh, boy. I'm really confused now.

> >From discussions on this list since at least 1997, and my own independent study, I am not happy with any of the common "peas" available. 
 > "English" peas or garden peas were developed fairly recently in 
>France, I believe.  

Ok, this is what the Encyclopedia Britannica thinks about peas: 
"Pisum sativum is the common garden pea of the Western world. While 
their origins have not been definitely determined, it is known that 
these legumes are one of the oldest of cultivated crops; fossil remains 
have been found in Swiss lake villages."

I know that 'edible-podded peas' are a relatively new development, 
though it appears that very young peascods were eaten in England in 
period.

>Black eyed peas and field peas and cow peas and 
>purple crowders are all related and come out of Africa.  

"cowpea also called  black-eyed pea 
cultivated forms of Vigna unguiculata, annual plants within the pea 
family (Fabaceae). In other countries they are commonly known as China 
bean, or black-eyed bean. The plants are believed to be native to India 
and the Middle East but in early times were cultivated in China. "

According to the US Department of Agriculture, field peas are a variety 
of Pisum sativum.

"Field pea is a high-quality, high-protein crop which is native to
southwest Asia.  Field pea was one of the first crops cultivated by man.

>Navy peas, and 
>white peas found on most grocery shelves are of New World origin. 

I've never seen anything called 'Navy Peas', though I'm familar with 
'navy beans' and 'white beans'. White peas are harder to find, I usually 
find green split peas. I do see 'white pea beans' but they are beans, 
not peas.

I've seen both yellow and white peas for sale (I assumed that yellow 
peas were merely a different variety of Pisum Sativium?)

> The 
>garden peas named by Gerard do not seem available, having been replaced 
>in the main by the varieties developed in the 17th and 18th century.

While the varieties have been developed, the species is the same, pisum 
sativium. Different varieties of lentils have also been developed over 
time. I've looked at the pictures of garden peas in Gerard, and he 
doesn't give a description of whether the dried peas are green or yellow 
(like our modern split peas) because he says peas need no description.

However, Le menagier suggests that dried peas need yellowing:

"With all these peas, whether old or new, you can force them through a 
sieve, or a fine or horsehair mesh; but the old peas must be yellowed 
with ground saffron of which the water may be put to boil with the peas 
and the saffron itself with the liquid from the peas."
  
>Of the nine peas and beans listed by Gerard, only four still seem to be 
>readily available: lentils, favas, chick peas, and a standard white pea 
>still eaten in Western Europe according to Adamantius.  



>The "green" pea 
>mentioned in many recipes of our time seem to be the fresh, immature 
>form of this same white pea.  Because I don't have access or knowledge 
>of that one, I choose to use lentils, which are readily available, and 
>lend themselves quite well to the recipes calling for peas.
> 
> Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com> wrote:
> 
> Aren't peas (both green and white) old world plants? They both show up 
> in enough recipes.
> 
> I've found dried white peas in large bags in the Indian (India) section 
> of the grocery store - labeled "Vatana".
> 
> - Doc
> 
> 
> 
> Pat Griffin
> Lady Anne du Bosc
> known as Mordonna the Cook
> Shire of Thorngill, Meridies
> Mundanely, Millbrook, AL
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-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 
"Information wants to be a Socialist... not a Communist or a 
Republican." - Karen Schneider