SUGAR SNAP PEAS
Green sugar snap peas combine the best characteristics of the English
pea and the Chinese edible pod snow peas. Eat them whole.
Serving amounts are 5 pods per student per serving.
AT A GLANCE
Sugar snap peas are the edible pod and seeds of a pea plant
They grow on vine-like plants which can be 1 to 2 meters high
They were named Sugar snap peas because they have the highest
sugar levels of any pea and a detectable crunch when bitten
WHERE ARE THEY GROWN?
Sugar snap peas (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon) are found commercially grown in the Lower Mainland.
Peas are planted on a schedule to mature starting the beginning of August to the end of August. BC produces 9,000 tonnes of peas. Most are of the shelling variety, with approximately 15% being the edible pod
types. Peas are a cool-weather-loving plant which are very well suited to production in the Fraser Valley.
Sugar snap peas and Snow Peas are harvested shortly after the flowering stage. If left too long they become starchy, yellow and stringy.
HISTORY NOTES
The shelling and drying varieties of peas, with their fibrous inedible pods, have been in existence for over
8,000 years. A staple in early times, peas were left in Egyptian tombs, hot pea soup was sold on the streets
of ancient Athens, and fried peas were sold like popcorn at the Roman theatres.
The Sugar snap peas are a more recent invention. In the 1960s, during research to solve the problem of
twisting and buckling pea pods, Dr. C Lamborn of Idaho, found a rogue pea plant which produced pod walls
much thicker than the normal English shelling type pea (Pisum sativum.) He crossed this unusual English
pea with the flatter Chinese snow pea type (P. sativum macrocarpum.) The new plant combined the best
character traits of both: a pod with smooth soft skin and peas which are round, plump and flavourful. Thus
the round, edible ―pod and all‖ variety was made
(a living example that you never know what you’ll discover, and that being unusual can be good).
INTERESTING FACTS
Peas are a legume. Like most legumes, peas have special nodules on their roots which enable them to
take nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil. Thus, peas actually enrich the soil they grow in.
Dried field peas are used in dishes like pea soup. The left over pea ―hay‖ is used as feed for cattle.
HOW MANY NAMES CAN ONE VEGETABLE HAVE?
Shelling—Snap—Snow, it can all seem so confusing. The pea became so ingrained into the everyday
existence of so many cultures from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, Europe, and Asia that the name
appeared as part of other legumes such as pigeon-peas, cowpeas, black-eyed peas, chick-peas, capuchinpeas, and peanut. Sugar snap peas also go by these names:
Butter Sugar
Sugar Rae
Sugar Ann
Sandy Peas
Sugar Pod
Sugar Snap
Sugar Sprint
Sugar Star
The French called them mange-tout, (pronounced mawnzh too), which translates to ―eat the whole thing.‖
Sharing the Goodness
From Close to Home
HEALTH BENEFITS
The good: This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of
Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium, and a very good source
of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Folate, Iron and Manganese.
The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugar.
SUMMER RECIPE
In August, try making a fresh Fraser Valley Succotash.
Succotash is an eastern aboriginal dish, from the Narragansett and
Algonquin regions. It is called ―msíckquatash” and translated it means
"boiled corn kernels." This dish is inexpensive and versatile;
a great use of fresh local produce when they are in season.
It was very popular during the tough ―dirty 30s‖ depression.
To make:
In a large sauce pan, gently sauté onions & garlic in oil until
they are translucent (7 min)
Cut corn kernels from the cobs and add to dish
Over the dish, with a spatula, scrape the milk from the cobs
(this makes the dish creamy and sweet)
Add the stock, stirring to incorporate
Add fresh sugar snap peas, bell pepper and cherry tomatoes
Add spices (see Options) and salt & pepper to taste
Gently cook 10 more minutes to marry the flavours
Serve hot as a side dish, on a bed of fresh greens or
on top of couscous or rice
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil or butter
1 cup fine chop onions or scallions
1 clove garlic
5 fresh ears of Fraser Valley Corn
1/2 vegetable stock
1/2 cup fresh chopped snap peas
1 red BC bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup BC cherry tomato halved
Salt & Pepper to taste
Spices:
Option 1– Spicy
chili/cilantro/jalapeño
Option 2—Mild
paprika/basil
The word succotash, was made popular by Warner Bros. Cartoon
character cat, Sylvester, as his catch phrase: "Sufferin' succotash!"
FOLKLORE
In Praise of Peas
William Wallace Irwin (1803 - 1856), Secretary of the United States Chamber of Commerce and Mayor of
Pittsburg, expressed passionate concern for peas in the Garrulous Gourmet when he wrote:
There is nothing so innocent, so confiding in its expression, as
the small green face of the freshly shelled spring pea.
Asparagus is pushing and bossy, lettuce is loud and blowsy,
radishes are gay and playful, but the little green pea is so
helpless and friendly that it makes really sensitive stomachs
suffer to see the way he is treated in the average home.
Flinging him into the water and letting him boil--and that's that.
LOGISTICS NOTE
BC sugar snap peas are in season during school’s summer vacation, so we have sourced these from
California/Mexico/Guatemala. However, when our BC produce is in season, we ask that you remember this sample
and try BC’s home-grown peas at that time.
Abbotsford Programs Office
BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation
Toll–free Phone: 1.866.517-6225
Fax 604.854-6068
www.aitc.ca/bc