Edible podded peas are known horticulturally as “sugar peas.” There are two sugar peas commonly eaten in the U.S.: sugar snaps and snow peas. These are two very different vegetables, with snow peas having flat pods and practically non-existent peas while sugar snaps have full pods with sweet thick shells and tiny peas.
Sugar snaps were the creation of Calvin Lamborn, a plant breeder and virologist who spent many years in the process of breeding them. He was introduced to a pea with a thick walled pod and crossed it with a snow pea, hoping to solve some problems with snow pea production. The result instead was what we now call the sugar snap, awarded a gold medal by the All-America Selections in 1979.
His pea was such a sensation that he was featured in a 1979 issue of People magazine. The author Tim Woodward wrote, “Now, thanks to Lamborn, who became a practicing botanist, there's something new under the harvest sun: sugar snap peas, which can be eaten -- raw or cooked -- pod and all. Further, Lamborn's variety is fatter and sweeter than the snow pea and yields up to three times the crop of the common pea. To gourmet James Beard, sugar snaps are ‘nothing short of sensational ... a breakthrough for all of us who love crispy, crunchy vegetables.’”
Lynn Pugh of Cane Creek Farm in Cumming is among those who love sugar snaps.
“My children loved them growing up. My son Jeff called them ‘Freddie beans’ and the children would just go out and eat them right off the vines,” she said.
Sugar snap seeds need to go into the ground at the end of February or early March.
“Sometimes we have to plant them in the mud because that’s what the field can be like at that time of year,” Pugh said. She grows "Sugar Ann," one of Lamborn’s more dwarf varieties of sugar snaps. They get picked like bush beans, one pea at a time, and are generally ready to harvest in late May or early June. The plants stop bearing during our hot summers.
Pugh planted 1,000 feet of sugar snaps this year. She sells her produce through a community-supported agriculture program as well as at the farm on Wednesday mornings and online through the Cumming Harvest at www.cumming.locallygrown.net, a program she helped to initiate.
She says she does occasionally have to tell a customer you don’t shell sugar snaps, laughing as she remembers one customer who shelled a pile of sugar snaps just to end up with a tiny amount of the tiny peas. Some sugar snaps will end up with a tough string running across the top of the pod. To remove it, snap off the stem end of the pea and zip down the length of the pea to the other end.
Pugh says her favorite way to eat them is steamed with a little onion.
“Sprinkle them with a little salt and in five minutes you’ve got a side dish. We also stir fry them with mushrooms or little carrots, but kids really seem to like them raw,” said Pugh.
Like sweet corn and a lot of other vegetables that rely on freshness to be at their best, sugar snaps begin to lose some of their appeal as they are stored. The farther from harvest, the more flabby and bitter the pea becomes. If you can’t serve your peas the day you purchase them, store them in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator and wash just before using.
Cooking demos:
9:30 a.m. May 14, 9:30 a.m. Chef Lance Gummere, The Shed, working with onions. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. May 14. Chef David Sweeney. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
Farmers markets opening for the season:
Whistle Stop Farmers Market, Norcross: May 17. www.norcrossfarmersmarket.com
Brookwood Farmers Market, Cumming: May 20. www.brookwoodfarmersmarket.com
Powder Springs Farmers Market, Powder Springs: June 2. www.localharvest.org/powder-springs-farmers-market-M27564
Lawrenceville Farmers Market, Lawrenceville: June 4. www.lawrencevillefarmersmarket.com
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: arugula, asparagus, beets, carrots, celery, chard, collards, dandelion, English peas, fennel, green beans, green onions, herbs, kale, leeks, lettuce, mache, mizuna, onions, pea shoots, potatoes, radishes, snow peas, spring garlic, spinach, strawberries, summer squash, tomatoes and turnips.
From local reports
Pearl Couscous with Sugar Snaps
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Pearl couscous is small, round, toasted pasta with grains about the size of peppercorns. You’ll generally find it next to rice and rice mixes in your grocery store. This side dish lends itself to all kinds of dressing up. Add chicken, shrimp or tofu, or stir in some Parmesan or your other favorite cheese.
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (10.72 ounce) container whole wheat pearl couscous
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth, more if needed
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, washed, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
In a small screw-top jar, make dressing by combining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice and garlic. Shake vigorously and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat remaining tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add couscous, sprinkle with salt and sauté 1 minute or until oil coats each grain. Add broth, increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 10 minutes, adding more broth if necessary.
Put sugar snaps in bottom of a large bowl. Top with cooked couscous. Drizzle on dressing. Let salad sit 5 minutes, then toss and taste for seasoning. Garnish with chives. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit magazine, June 2010.
Per serving: 503 calories (percent of calories from fat, 28), 14 grams protein, 76 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams fiber, 16 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 1 milligram cholesterol, 455 milligrams sodium.
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