Some find hope in blue skies or a lover’s eyes. I find it in a steaming bowl of peas. A bowl of peas with Maldon sea salt and a lick of butter. On darker days, with ketchup or cheese. If you ever find yourself on the brink of despair, invest in a 1.2kg bag of Birds Eye peas (there are other growers, of course, but none truly compare).
As Ed Grace, head chef at Italian-inspired restaurant Trullo says, “alongside asparagus and strawberries, peas are undoubtedly the best kind of British produce you can get”. The UK’s cool, wet climate makes for a sweet-tasting pulse; around 35,000 hectares are grown here every year. For that reason, “peas follow you from childhood,” says Cafe Deco’s Anna Tobias. “If you had a child that didn’t like peas, I imagine you’d be hugely disappointed. They’re so pleasing as a thing — sweet and little and not challenging in any way.”
Fresh British peas start appearing on menus in May, with the best crop arriving around June. They linger until around October, but you can buy them frozen, as I do, in any weather. (Frozen peas are actually considered to be just as nutritious, if not more so, than fresh peas, as they are typically frozen straight after harvesting.) They go excellently in soups, pastas and risottos; try the electric green pea risotto at Nima Safaei’s newly opened tavola calda restaurant, 27 Old Compton Street. Their sweetness is also well-suited to fresh, salty cheese, many varieties of which also come into season around spring. “Cheese adds both richness and acidity, enhancing the natural sweetness,” says Doug Sims, executive chef at the Public House restaurant group, whose much-hyped Maida Vale gastropub The Hero is serving grilled peas with mint, pickles and housemade cheese.
FT Globetrotter’s editor Rebecca Rose, a fellow pea fanatic, finds perfection in the pea fritters at Highgate pub restaurant The Bull & Last. I have my eye on Canteen’s pea pod ice cream. For the versatile nature of a pea means that it can cosplay in any course or cuisine (peas are also grown in Europe, the US and Asia). In China, pea shoots are used in stir-fries; in Pakistan and India, they’re a cornerstone of Punjabi cuisine. “They bring an unmistakable brightness to any dish,” says Shanti Bhushan, chef at Mayfair’s Ambassadors Clubhouse, where peas feature in hearty curries and paneer-stuffed samosas.
Come spring in London, it’s a crime not to eat your peas fresh. Below are some of our favourite takes; find them on their menus until at least the end of June.
Trullo
300-302 St Paul’s Rd, London N1 2LH
“Peas are obviously brilliant and delicious fresh, but one of the most underused aspects of them are the pods,” says Trullo’s Ed Grace, who is currently serving an enormous lamb shoulder slow-cooked in milk with garlic, lemon and pea pods. “The fat solids soak up all that lovely pea liquor, and the whey of the milk helps tenderise the meat further.” He finishes the plate with a generous portion of cooked fresh peas.
The joy of Trullo is that you can pop in for a bowl of pasta — the £16 beef shin ragu is not to be missed — or share a larger dish for a long, indulgent evening. Grace’s lamb shoulder (£77), of course, falls into the latter option: the meat can easily feed three, especially if you opt for the Trullo trimmings (£6.50) — lightly dressed salad leaves and potatoes so buttery they threaten to slip off your plate. Try to make room for the bruschetta topped with creamy mozzarella and crushed raw peas.
Now in its 15th year — and in its last month of a residency at Harvey Nichols — Trullo seems to get better every visit. The candles and café curtains are inviting, be it winter or summer; the staff are relaxed and helpful — go with their advice and pair the lamb with a light GD Vajra Nebbiolo. A restaurant is either made excellent by its food, atmosphere or service. Trullo is made flawless by all three.
Applebee’s
5 Stoney St, London SE1 9AA
Frankie van Loo, chef at seafood restaurant Applebee’s, has little time for those who push their peas aside. “What’s not to love?” he says. “They’re a fantastic ingredient — full of flavour, very versatile, easy to cook.” For vegetarians, he adds, puréed fresh peas sourced to a risotto with ricotta and wild garlic — “this gives it a sweet creamy texture,” he says. Meat eaters can (and should) top it with one of the sobrasada-topped grilled scallops.
Elsewhere, peas are fried up, petit pois à la francaise-style, with pancetta, onion and gem lettuce to accompany a grilled slab of monkfish. Pair with a glass of Sandridge Barton pinot gris (a great white wine for fish) and a portion of triple-cooked chips (curry sauce optional). It’s also worth noting that traditionalists can indulge in a classic portion of fish, chips and mushy peas all year round; van Loo braises the peas for the latter with mint and fish stock.
With a menu full of exciting treats — scallop tartare, crab rarebits and mussel-studded platters — it’s hard to make a shortlist. My advice is to bring a group and order the whole lot.
SOMA
14 Denman St, London W1D 7HJ
Drinking peas might sound odd to even the most hardcore fans; somehow, SOMA makes the proposition tempting. The underground bar — a relation of Indian restaurant Kricket — serves riffs on classic cocktails on a sleek metal counter: shallot martinis (delicious, but not for date night), lime leaf gimlets (a personal favourite) and seasonal lassis.
“While traditional Indian lassis often highlight ingredients like mango, lime and coconut, we put our own twist on it by blending Indian flavours with British ingredients,” says Will Rogers, head of beverage for both SOMA and Kricket. For spring, Rogers has chosen peas — “a distinctly British vegetable. They pack a lot of flavour, are reasonably priced and create a beautiful colour in a drink.”
Rogers uses a clarified pea yoghurt, making the drink clear and smooth, and pairs it with DropWorks rum, Adriatico Amaretto and “a touch of mint”. The result is a drink that has all of the sweetness of its namesake ingredient, but none of the starchiness or earthiness. Just the tonic for a post-curry slump. And the best part? SOMA stays open until 3am.
Pophams
197 Richmond Rd, London E8 3NJ
Rae Arends, head chef at Hackney bakery and pasta bar Pophams, puts a fresh pea dish on the menu every spring. “There is nothing like fresh British peas in peak season,” she says. This year’s take — mortadella-stuffed scarpinocc served with fresh peas and a pea, basil and pistachio pesto — plays on the classic combination of ham and peas. Typically the pasta has one dimple; Arends has made them with three to look like pea pods. “It’s a bit cute, but I like them,” she says.
The dish certainly looks cute, but the flavour is anything but — salty mortadella, garlicky pesto and sparky peas. Enjoy with a glass of Domaine Elodie Jaume’s Coudoulet white to cut through the richness. And don’t forget a hunk of sourdough to mop up the sauce. When you’re dining in a bakery, it would be rude not to.
Cafe Deco
43 Store St, London WC1E 7DB
Who knew that, 10 minutes from the crowds and food courts of Tottenham Court Road, you’ll find a sanctuary in Cafe Deco, an unassuming restaurant with a chalkboard for specials and a fridge full of marmalade. Chef-proprietor Anna Tobias works so seasonally that her weekly menu often differs from day to day. But when peas are in season, you’re almost guaranteed to find them here.
One of Tobias’s favourite ways to play with peas is with Ticklemore (a soft goat’s cheese), mint and grilled new-season onions. She also braises them with ham and onions to create a sauce, or serves them raw “as a snack”. “We cook simple food and our aim is to show an ingredient off at its best,” says Tobias.
When I visit, the offering is a pillow-like pea, spring onion and goat’s curd roulade with a generous portion of lemony salad. It makes the perfect accompaniment to one of the few dishes you’ll always find on the menu, a golden-yolk egg topped with lashings of homemade mayonnaise. Both dishes capture what Cafe Deco is all about — a place for long, leisurely lunches, where chefs amble out of the kitchen smiling, seasonality is championed and the simplest of pleasures are made magic.
Tasca at Cav
Arch 255, Paradise Row, London E2 9LQ
A tasca is a traditional tavern found in Spain and Portugal, the kind of place that might serve cheap, hearty food alongside local wine and beer. This is the mood that chef Josh Dallaway and sommelier Sinead Murdoch are trying to conjure with Tasca, their new residency — except that the setting is Cav, a bar under Bethnal Green’s arches.
“The menu has elements of the humble beginnings that a lot of Spanish and Portuguese food has,” explains Dallaway. “We’re just trying to put our little east London twist on it.” That means mouthwatering cachorrinhos (Portuguese hot dogs) and pintxos, but also more refined dishes to complement Cav’s brilliant drinks selection (80 per cent of wine list is either made by women, or come from vineyards founded by them).
For pea season, Dallaway is serving the pulse in two, slightly unexpected ways. The first is razor clam and pea-studded broth topped with sliced brambles, pea flowers and shoots. The second is a traditional citrus posset with a granita made from pea pods and jalapenos — “kind of like a frozen margarita,” jokes Dallaway. “I like vegetables in desserts in general, and the natural sweetness of peas is perfect for that sort of thing.” It sounds wrong on paper; in practice, it’s the picture of a posset: sharp, sweet and deliciously smooth — aside from a few fresh peas, of course.
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