If you come from the North of England I'm sure you will know what Mushy Peas are, but for the sake of the rest of the world, let me explain: Mushy Peas are peas that go mushy when cooked! They fall in much the same way as lentils break down when you make Dhal. In England Mushy Peas are a traditional accompaniment to Fish and Chips.
The plants are very similar to climbing French Beans,(in fact, if I'm not mistaken I think they are closely related) and are grown in the same way - supported by canes or a trellis of some sort. This is what the pods look like. These ones of mine are what you might call "semi-mature". The pods are not dry, but the beans are certainly fully grown.
Inside the pods, the beans are white, very similar to Haricots Blancs, or Cannellini Beans.
I have searched on the internet for information about how to cook this type of bean, but there is not much available, so I have used my instinct. I think that when picked immature (let's imagine Flageolets) they would perform very much like the Marrowfat peas traditionally used for Mushy Peas, whereas when picked mature and dried I expect they would be rather like Borlotti or Pintos. "There is only one way to find out" I thought...
After shelling them, I cooked the beans in water for about 40 minutes, after which time they began to fall, or disintegrate, at which stage I turned down the heat and poured away most of the water. I then added some salt and slowly boiled off the remaining water until the right consistency was achieved - a bit like porridge. The result was very much like the traditional Mushy Peas, although a much paler colour:
When we ate the beans (with a beef casserole rather than Fish and Chips, thankfully) we really enjoyed them, and wished that I had grown an awful lot more. The small quantity we had was barely enough for a taster - just a spoonful each.
One other useful piece of advice: most of the pods were still a little green, and therefore pliable, which made them very difficult to open. If I had these again I think I would wait until the pods were fully dry, so that they would snap open easily..
In the north of England we also have pie and peas, pork pie with mushy peas, mmmm delicious, especially when you add mint sauce. Do you have that in the south of England? I've never heard of the mushy pea bean though, I suppose it tastes more of bean than pea?
ReplyDeleteJo, Even in the South we have mushy peas - e.g. the London version with "liquor" (aka gravy) - they're just not quite so much in evidence. The ones I grew tasted just like peas actually.
DeleteVery interesting. I have never heard of this before but they do look good. I take it that this will be one you will grow again?
ReplyDeleteBecky; Yes, I'm certainly tempted to have another go. I'd need a lot more of them though. Unlike Runners or French Beans, the pods all seem to come on at once and there isn't a succession of pods, so the yield was quite low - which might mean it gets ruled out of my plan!
DeleteHi Mark,
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled onto your blog, love it - but it'll take me a while to read through the posts on your site!
I've just set up a garden allotment myself - was given a bit of overgrown land and transformed it. Hard work but it was worth it.
I set up a blog site myself to detail my experiences, www.huntforageharvest.com , would love if you could have a look and pass on whatever pointers you might have!
Regards,
Paddy.
Hi Paddy; Thanks for visiting. I had a look at your blog and was very impressed. Not only do you grow a huge variety of lovely veg, but you also offer some great advice on preserving your harvests. I'm not a big pickles person myself - preferring to eat my veg fresh if at all possible - but I think your articles on this subject will appeal to a wide audience. You have some great photos too, particularly the ones taken outdoors. Do you have a wide-angle lens for your camera? The panorama-style shots are really nice.
DeleteDo you know we had mushy peas last night and whilst eating I looked down and thought that they looked more like beans than peas and I wandered what they were!! And now I know!!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of these at all
ReplyDeleteNew to me as well, but I like the idea. Often cook northern beans down to a mush and use as a base on the plate for a protein. Fish usually but I know you don't care for that.
ReplyDeleteI love that you grew mushy peas - very cool. In South Australia they have a dish called a pie floater which is a pie in pea soup (its not quite as bad as it sounds although strangely it hasn't really spread beyond South Australia...I think that does use pea peas but maybe it's something like this.
ReplyDeleteI love that these are like the paler cousin of our lurid green mushy peas! Shame you didn't have lots of them to try but you know for next year!
ReplyDeleteMark, we had mushy peas on our trip in Northern Ireland, as well as in England. AT one place the peas were served with fish and chips or you could choose curry sauce for the chips, which is what I got. I love curry sauce on chips even better than mushy peas! By the way, chips in America refers to potato chips, while they are "crisps" there, and chips here are called French Fries or just "fries".
ReplyDeleteThese look really interesting. Where did you get the seed from?
ReplyDeleteI got them from a firm called "Plants of Distinction" (www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk). I have bought from them a lot and Ithink they are good - and they offer lots of unusual lines.
DeleteThanks, they look like they've got some interesting stuff. I'm planning on growing several types of beans next year, and this looks like a great addition!
DeleteLove this bean, great taste, I cook them very very quick. Did well in the freezer too.
ReplyDelete