Peas, young and fresh, are as good as it gets. Pea-growers have the advantage here, though frozen-in-a-bag still has the young tag, even if they’re not fresh off the vine.

Our Mesolithic ancestors liked peas too and ate them young from wild members of the pea family including the common vetch, bush vetch, meadow vetchling and white clover. They still make a good wayside snack.

When cultivated peas came to Britain, they were mostly picked when mature then dried for storing through the winter. They were known as “pease” and became a starchy filler in such dishes as pease pudding with boiled bacon.

Plant breeders started experimenting with tender varieties, for eating fresh, around the 1700s.

Soon after they introduced the idea of eating whole, immature pods like mangetout and sugar snap. These are fast-growing varieties where the pea tips can be picked out from the growing tops and side shoots with no adverse effect on the final crop yield. They can be added to salads, stir-frys and risottos.

Mint may be the pea’s usual flavour partner, but some young, fresh or frozen crushed peas (pulsed for a few seconds in the processor) and heated through briefly with some finely chopped marjoram, olive oil and lemon juice is an equally good partnership.

Vegetable Growing Month-by-Month by John Harrison, Right Way, £5.99

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Jane MacQuitty’s party wine
• Oliver Peyton's Christmas pavlova
• Blood orange cosmopolitan