A cook’s year BROAD BEANS AND PEAS
Fresh and tender, young and vibrant, beans and peas are bursting with just-podded sweetness this month… With a gentle touch and minimal cooking, Gill Meller celebrates all things good and green
RECIPE, FOOD STYLING AND STYLING GILL MELLER PHOTOGRAPHS ANDREW MONTGOMERY
“There’s something magical about pods. They hold the seeds within, protecting them, sealed away from the world until they’re ripe and ready, at which point the pod splits and something new begins.
Broad beans and peas in their pods are an annual cause for happiness, coinciding with sunshine and flowers. Thumbing open a pod of bright green peas plucked straight from the plant and popping them into your mouth is a life-affirming moment. Peas are so sweet and tender it’s hard to imagine how cooking them could improve things. Broad beans are equally sweet eaten fresh and raw. When they’re still finger-sized, small ones can be eaten pod and all. Sadly, peas and broad beans don’t travel well. As soon as they’re plucked from the plant the pods begin to turn limp and the peas or beans become hard and starchy. As with other seasonal ingredients, searching out the freshest examples will pay dividends.