Peas are a staple of British dinners. Sunday roasts, bangers and mash, shepherds’ pie, fish and chips… they are all improved by the addition of the humble pea. However, all peas are not made equal (or even by the same method). Whilst many people believe that no freezer is complete without a bag of frozen garden peas, there is an equal principle that no larder is complete without a tin of processed peas.
What are processed peas? How are processed peas made? What are they made from? These are all questions which have either occupied, or completely bypassed, learned scholars for decades. Processed peas are called processed peas exactly because they undergo a certain amount of processing from the time they are plucked from a pea plant until the moment they are sealed into a can. Firstly, they are harvested from the fields using a machine called a viner, which shakes the pods to release the peas. Whilst frozen peas are then rapidly chilled post-haste, processed peas have a much more exciting and varied life, being initially dried to preserve them. Once dried they are transported to the processing plant (which is easier because they are lighter without all that pesky, heavy H2O) where they are reconstituted with water. Green dye is often added at this stage, because the drying/reconstituting process can drain the colour from the peas. The peas are then tinned, labelled and sent to happy households across the world.
Processed peas have a distinctive flavour and texture, due to the processes they undergo, This makes them a classic comfort food and an ideal accompaniment to many gravy-related dishes. Mushy peas and marrowfat peas are created in a similar way, and thus can be considered close family members of the small processed pea.
At The Trading Post we stock a variety of processed and tinned peas from Batchelors, including Small Processed Peas, Bigga Marrowfat Peas and tins of glorious Mushy Peas. Whereas small processed peas are produced using the techniques discussed above, marrowfat peas are generally left to over-ripen and dry naturally in the field, making them bigger (or Bigga) and more mature. Marrowfat peas can then be reconstituted and tinned or, alternatively, boiled with seasoning until they are softened and ‘mushy.’ This delicious mush is the green gold that ties a proper chip shop dinner together. You can add curry sauce, you can pour on some gravy, you can even entertain a bright red saveloy, but no fish supper is complete without a healthy helping of mushy peas. There is actually such high demand for mushy peas in France that we stock two different brands, Harry Ramsden's and Batchelors, with the latter being available in massive 3kg tins (that’ll count as a few of your five-a-day).
Whether you prefer them small, marrowfat or mushy, celebrate the joy of processing peas today by eating them. That’s literally what they want.
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