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Green Peas

Peas, like corn, lose their sweetness very quickly after picking. If necessary to keep them over night, they should be spread out on a cloth on a cool cellar floor. If, however, you should be so unfortunate as to get stale or wilted peas, they should be shelled at once, thrown into cold water at least one hour before cooking, and then a teaspoonful of sugar should be added to the water in which they are boiled. This artificial flavoring will only partly restore the flavor of the peas. Fresh peas, however, should not be shelled until just before cooking. They should then be washed quickly in cold water, thrown in a kettle of salted boiling water, and boiled ten or fifteen minutes. Long boiling cracks the skins and destroys the color and flavor of the peas. When tender, drain, turn into a hot dish, add a lump of butter. Dust with salt and pepper and serve at once.

The most important point in cooking peas is to have plenty of water. The water must be slightly salted and the peas boiled just long enough to become tender, and drained at once. In this way they will retain their color and sweetness. There are many varieties of peas, many of which are coarse and only fit for drying. The choice kinds of garden peas are, of course, sweet, nutritious and wholesome. There is also a kind of pea called sugar pea, the pods of which are gathered young and cooked and eaten with the seeds in, the same way as we use string beans. Boiled, and dressed with butter, salt and pepper, they are delicious.

If peas are old or have been picked some time before cooking, it is very difficult to make them tender. Indeed, the longer they are boiled, the harder they become. In this condition they are not digestible. It is best to save them for another meal, and by pressing them through a sieve they may be made into a palatable and digestible soup.