98 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



freshly picked, and in good condition. Tender green 

 peas should be placed in a stewpan containing only just 

 sufficient salted (a teaspoonful to the pint) boiling water 

 to cover them. Add nothing else, neither soda, nor 

 mint, nor yolks of eggs. Boil quickly for about ten 

 minutes until the peas are tender, the lid of the pan 

 being kept off the while. Drain in a colander, and serve 

 in a hot vegetable dish. That is the one and only way 

 in which the better sorts of peas — especially the better 

 sorts of marrowfats — should be cooked. But there are 

 peas other than the best, and even the most fastidious 

 worshipper of the simple will allow some attempts at 

 improvement in dealing with such. For example, the 

 addition of a few leaves of mint or parsley and a little 

 butter (an ounce to the pint) to the water in the stewpan 

 may be tried, or even a small onion may be boiled with 

 the peas. 



To cook Old Peas 



Old peas are best cooked by being placed, together 

 with a little butter and flavourings as suggested 

 above, in a screw-stoppered jar, which is to' be set 

 in a stewpan of water kept boiling for about three- 

 quarters of an hour. A lump of sugar is commonly 

 added ; and sometimes a lettuce, cut up into inch squares, 

 is boiled with the peas. 



More complicated dishes may be accomplished by 

 adding to the peas cooked in any of the above ways the 

 yolks of eggs well beaten up with cream (two eggs and 

 four tablespoonfuls of cream to a pound of peas), care 

 being taken to avoid the boiling point. 



Old peas boiled with a minimum of water, a little 

 butter, ham, herbs, pepper and salt, subsequently 

 improved by the addition of the egg and cream mixture, 

 afford a pleasant dish. 



