Jugged Peas

I came across this 18th Century English recipe in an old cookbook which I believe is out of print. The preparation of this dish struck me as interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try.

These lightly minted peas were quite tasty.


adapted from The Covent Garden Cookbook, 1974 by Marie Stone
2 cups freshly shelled peas (I used frozen and they worked well)
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
12 fresh mint leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Put the peas into a clean, 2 pound (1kg) jar with a close-fitting top, adding the butter, sugar, salt, mint and a very little pepper.

Cover the jar tightly and immerse it to half it's height in a pan of boiling water. Set the latter over high heat and boil briskly, uncovered.

Although Marie Stone recommends boiling the peas for about 30 minutes for young ones (longer for older peas), I found about 15 minutes for frozen peas to be plenty. About 5 minutes in, wearing oven mitts, I shook the jar a few times.