![]() But peas do not like heat, and you’ll find them at farmers markets and CSAs in the spring. SeasonĬommercially, peas are widely grown and available year-round. A single cup of regular shell peas contains 118 calories 1 cup of chopped snow or sugar snap peas contains 41 calories. They are also an excellent source of manganese, vitamin C, thiamine, folate, vitamin A, phosphorus, vitamin B6, niacin, iron, copper, tryptophan, and dietary fiber. NutritionĪll peas are rich in vitamin K, a nutrient essential for proper blood clotting and bone maintenance. Varieties of the fleshy-podded sugar snap pea have been around for at least 300 years, but it was not until plant breeder Calvin Lamborn created an All-American Selection–winning hybrid in the early 1970s by crossing snow peas with a thick-walled rogue he found in his test plants that this vegetable suddenly became popular. Sometimes called Chinese snow peas, these flat-podded legumes are not from China, nor do they have any obvious connection with snow instead they may have been developed in Holland in the 1500s. Snow peas and sugar snaps have existed at least since the 16th century. Subsequently they became all the rage during Louis XIV’s time, so much so that both he and the ladies of his court were notoriously obsessed with them. Until the time of the Italian Renaissance, however, peas were generally consumed mature and dried, and it was not until Catherine de’ Medici introduced them to her court when she married Henry II of France that the fresh, young piselli novelli became fashionable. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all enjoyed peas, as did King Charlemagne, who ordered them planted in his gardens in about 800 ce. Popularly the pea is attributed to central Asia indeed the oldest carbon-dated peas were found between Burma and Thailand, and are believed to be from 9750 bce. ![]() The garden pea is one of the oldest foods eaten by humans, and its precise origins remain so ancient that they are unknown. A cool-weather crop, all of these pea varieties are at their most succulent and sweet in late spring or early summer. Sugar snaps, with their juicy, fleshy pods and full-size peas, combine the best attributes of regular garden and snow peas. The flat pods of snow peas have a terrific pea flavor without the hassle of shelling, and they are extremely popular in stir-fries. Although garden peas may be available in your CSA box, you are more likely to see sugar snaps and snow peas. There is the common garden, or shelling, pea with which we are most familiar, with peas suitable for shelling, and two subspecies of edible-podded peas, the snow pea and the sugar snap. ![]() These legume siblings of beans come in several forms. Once you taste such fresh peas, their sweetness and sheer vegetable flavor will spoil you for anything less. Peas grown on a farm and delivered to the consumer within hours of picking are truly gems of the garden. ![]()
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