Behind the Recipe -- Jeri Quinzio: Peas symbols. Or, why peas are perfect for Valentine’s Day.

This Valentine’s Day, do something different. Forget flowers and candy. Present your lover with peas.

We may have forgotten the folklore, but for centuries, peas and pea pods (earlier called peascods) have been tiny symbols of love, romance, and fertility. Not merely a healthful food, simple side dish, or soup ingredient, peas are a rich source of stories and legends. They’re teeming with tradition.

Probably the best-known tale of peas and romance is Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Princess and the Pea.” It seems a prince wanted to marry, but was unsuccessful in finding a true princess. He met many candidates, but none quite made the grade. Then one night, in the middle of a storm, a young woman arrived at the castle claiming to be a princess. But she was sopping wet, her hair was a mess, and she looked more like a ragamuffin than a royal. To test her, the prince’s mother, the queen, placed a pea on the bed where the purported princess was to sleep. Then she had several mattresses and eiderdown comforters piled on top of it.

The next morning, the delicate young woman complained that she hadn’t slept a wink all night because something in the bed was so hard that she was black and blue all over. Clearly, the culprit was the pea. Convinced that only a royal princess could have such a delicate nature, the prince married her. Presumably they lived happily ever after, slept on beds without peas, and had many children.

Leaving aside the elitist idea that aristocrats are more sensitive and refined than the rest of us, why a pea? Andersen may well have been aware of the pea’s association with the many stories of love, marriage, childbearing, and sleep problems. Maybe they inspired him to choose a pea to plague the princess. After all, he could have subjected her to the sensitivity test with grains of sand or cookie crumbs. But he chose a pea, a storied green pea.

Pea-pods-on-plant_full_width Both peas and pea pods had long been associated with love and marriage. Because pea pods shield little baby peas and ensure their safe delivery, businesses catering to pregnant women are often called some variation of "peas in a pod."

According to David Moore, a nineteenth-century writer on gardening, “ Peas and Peascods are connected with wooing the lasses.” A lad would pick peapods and if the peas remained in the pod, he presented it to the lass of his choice.

Earlier, William Browne, a seventeenth-century English pastoral poet, described the practice.

The Peascod greene, oft with no little toyle,

He’d seek for in the fattest, fertil’st soile,

And rend it from the stalks to bring it to her,

And in her bosom for acceptance wooe her.

Folklore was also filled with stories about young women using peas to identify the right men. In Bohemia (part of the Czech Republic today), young women gathered flowers in a field of peas, made garlands of them, and used them as pillows. If a woman slept with her right ear on the flowery pillow, she’d hear a voice telling her the name of her husband-to-be. After that, apparently, it was up to her to let the lucky man know.

An English girl considering potential husbands counted the peas in a pod. Nine was the lucky number. If there were nine, she would hang the promising pod over the door frame. The first man to walk through the door after she’d hung it up was supposed to become her husband.

Village girls in Hertfordshire put the pod with nine peas under a gate, and believed that the first man who walked through would be Mr. Right.

Whether the one coming through your door or gate on Valentine’s Day is a long-time love or a new flame, serving peas at dinner is a romantic gesture. However, you might want to have flowers or candy as well, just to be on the safe side.

Braised lettuce and peas

It’s too early for fresh peas in the pod here in New England, but frozen peas can also symbolize love. Here’s classic French pea preparation that would be perfect with a Valentine’s Day dinner.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil or a combination of butter and oil

1 small shallot or 3 scallions, sliced

1 cup of peas

Lettuce (Butter lettuce is traditional, but mixed lettuces are fine). Chop or tear the leaves into pieces.

Mint or thyme

Salt and pepper

Sauté the sliced shallot or scallions in the oil until they’re just softened. Add the peas, cook for a two or three minutes. Toss in the lettuce and cook until the lettuce just barely begins to wilt.

Serve with a sprinkle of the mint or thyme and salt and pepper to taste.