A British comfort staple of dried marrowfat peas soaked and simmered until broken down into a thick, vivid green purée — served alongside fish and chips as an essential side dish, with pie and mash in London pie shops, and at chip shops throughout the North of England; the colour comes from mint or a small amount of food dye.
Marrowfat peas
Mushy peas are made specifically from marrowfat peas — a mature, dried variety of pea with a high starch content that causes them to become very soft and creamy when cooked. Fresh or frozen garden peas don’t produce the right texture; only dried marrowfat peas will break down into the characteristic thick, vivid green purée. The peas must be soaked overnight in water with bicarbonate of soda (which softens the skin).
British chip shop culture
Mushy peas are inseparable from the British chip shop. In northern England particularly, fish and chips without mushy peas on the side is incomplete. They are served hot in small polystyrene cups or dishes, typically doused with malt vinegar. The combination of hot chips, crispy fried fish, and the soft, slightly sweet-savoury peas is one of the definitive British flavour combinations.
Pie and mash connection
In London’s East End pie and mash shops, mushy peas are served alongside minced beef pies and creamy mashed potato, swimming in parsley liquor (a green parsley sauce). The combination is a relic of Victorian working-class London food culture that survives in a handful of traditional pie and mash shops.
The colour
The vivid green of commercial mushy peas often comes partly from green food colouring added to intensify the colour beyond what natural cooking produces. Homemade mushy peas — simply soaked, simmered peas — are a slightly duller olive green but no less flavourful. A sprig of fresh mint added during cooking adds flavour and brightens the colour slightly.
Find more foods by letter
Mushy Peas starts with M and ends with S. Browse other foods along the same letter.
Foods that contain a letter from "Mushy Peas":