Early vegetables: peas

Like the King Sun, I am partial to peas. I like to eat them raw while removing their pods, I like their texture in soups and I love the way they soak in the sauces in which they are served. Whereas I have resorted to the frozen section of my supermarket to enjoy them in the middle of winter, Louis the XIV had a vegetable garden built for his eating and esthetic enjoyment in Versailles. And what a garden! At the tune of several hundred millions of our dollars (over a million French seventeenth century pounds) a swamp had to give way to a manicured sunken garden with a large basin in the middle bordered by terraces which separated it from other closed walls garden. To satisfy the gourmet king, hills gave their soil to be carried several miles away. This adventurous design was the brainchild of a former lawyer turned horticulturist. La Quintinie was as observant of the desires of his master, as he was of the rays of the real sun. Exposition and protection from the winds were keys to the production of apples and pears year-round, hence the walls and sunken garden. By the careful use of cow and horse manure, cold frame and hotbeds he maximized solar heating and obtained fruit and vegetables six weeks before their normal due date. Among the successes admired and emulated by other European courts, asparagus and lettuce appeared in December, strawberries came at the end of March, peas and cucumber in April, cherries in May and figs were on the royal table starting mid June. Le Potager du Roi has kept its original plan, even if new world cultures have been added since and the sunken fig garden given way to greenhouses. Students of the National Superior School of Landscape care for it and give tours to the visitors.
In honor of the pea who according to children’s tale helped identify princesses, here are a cold sweet soup, a cold terrine and the original vegetable jardinière recipe. Each feeds four people. To obtain the best result, it is essential to remove the pod less than 12 hours after picking and eat the peas soon after, barely cooked in boiling water.

Sweet mint pea soup
(Easy, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 cups (500 g) peas without the pod
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cream
For the emulsion:
7 sprigs of mint
½ cup (100ml) water
2 tablespoons (30g) sugar
½ teaspoon pepper

Material:
Saucepan
Strainer
Blender

Bring water in a saucepan to a boil. Add a teaspoon of salt and the peas. Wait until the boil resumes and strain the peas. Cool them under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Blend with a little of the cooking water and the cream.
Keep only the mint leaves. Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Add ½ of the mint and remove from the stove. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid into a blender. Add the reserved fresh mint leaves and pepper and blend.
Separate the soup into 4 soup bowls. Pour the mint emulsion on top and reserve in the refrigerator to serve cold.

Pea, fava bean and avocado terrine on a bed of mixed greens in a shallot vinaigrette
(Easy, Preparation time: 45 minutes, cheap)

Ingredients:
2 cups (500g) peas without the pods
½ cup (100g) fava bean without the pods
½ avocado
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (28ml) olive oil
A few drops of Tabasco
Mixed salad greens

For the salad dressing:
1 shallot
4 sprigs of basil
3 tablespoons olive oil
1½ tablespoons (20ml) Xeres Vinegar
Salt and pepper

Material:
Saucepan
Strainer
Blender
Salad bowl
Silicone spoon
Muffin silicone molds*.

Put first the fava bean in lightly salted boiling water. When the boil resumes, strain and refresh under running cold water. Remove the skin of the fava beans and reserve.
Put the peas in boiling water. When the boil resumes, strain and refresh under running cold water.
Blend half the peas, half of the avocado, the lemon juice, olive oil and Tabasco in a blender. Pour into the salad bowl. Taste and add generously salt and pepper.
Add carefully the whole peas and fava beans to the purée. Fill the molds to the brim and refrigerate until ready to serve. Revert the mold on to a plate and garnish with mixed greens.
Place the peeled shallot and washed and dried basil leaves in a blender. Add the oil and vinegar and blend until well mixed. Drizzle generously over the terrine and salad leaves.
*The molds come in sets of 6. Separate them with a pair of scissors to obtain individual molds, which are more convenient to use when reverting on to a single plate.

Spring vegetable jardinière
(Easy, Preparation time: 30 minutes, cheap)

Ingredients:
1 cup (250g) new carrots
1 cup (250g) new turnips
½ cup (125g) new onions
1 cup (250g) peas without pods
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30g) French or English butter
Salt and pepper
Basil leaves washed, dried and cut finely in ribbon

Material:
1 4-quart saucepan
1 strainer
1 serving plate
Discard the tops of the carrots and of the turnips. Cut off the bottom of the turnip and wash them. Grate the carrots. Cut any vegetable bigger than an inch in one- inch cubes. Remove the tops of the onion and keep in the refrigerator or freeze to season a salad.
Bring water and salt to a boil in the saucepan. Add the carrots, turnips and onions. When the boil resumes, cook for 17 minutes. Add the peas to the boiling water and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Strain. Put vegetables back into the saucepan. Add the butter, salt and pepper, the tablespoon of sugar the cut ribbons of basil and toss well. When the butter has melted, pour into the serving plate and serve immediately.
Traditionally it is the perfect companion food to a veal or pork chop. If you want a vegetarian version couscous or brown rice is a good choice.