Vegetables

[Caran]

Thinking back to my childhood, the veggies we ate were only peas, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage. So when I got married that is what we had. Until husband decided to grow veg. He presented me with a batch of runner beans. I had never seen them before so I shelled them, picked out the little beans and boiled them, throwing away all the rest of them. That did not go down well.
Anyone else dropped a clanger like that.

[Barsel]

Caran, my mother - in - law did the exact same thing. As a young girl she came over from Ireland to work for a family in London and she had no idea what to do with them.

[Jackdaw33]

When I was little it was very much a case of vegetables in season. Peas were only available for a few weeks in the summer (this was before Birdseye), runner beans slightly longer. Otherwise it was tinned peas or, for fresh greens, cabbage.

[Buenchico]

My friend (alas, now no longer with us) made a similar mistake on the first time she cooked asparagus, throwing away the tips and cooking the stalks ;-)

[Caran]

Love that one Chris.

[Caran]

What happened to surprise peas?

[Jackdaw33]

We called them string beans, as you peeled off the string on the outside then sliced them up. I used to hate broad beans and butter beans but now I love them.

[Buenchico]

I find it odd though that runner beans weren't part of the normal diet of others (of roughly the same age as me) here, when they were children.

We had them as often as peas, cauliflower and (revolting) cabbage at home when I was a kid. We also had them with school lunches when I went to secondary school.

[Jackdaw33]

I remember Surprise peas. They were a vivid green.

[Caran]

I was soon shown the error of my ways, his mother put me right!

[pastafreak]

My mum always grew a fair amount of the veg we ate...this was on Long Island about 30 miles east of NYC. We usually had fresh tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn, chard or spinach, maybe green beans. The tomatoes were the best.

[Caran]

pastafreak the only veg I knew then frromyour list was tomatoes.

[Jackdaw33]

I was 23 before I first came across broccoli. I'm still not keen on it.

[Buenchico]

Surprise Peas were a Batchelor's product, with Batchelor's being part of Unilever. In Australia, Unilever sells food products under the 'Continental' brand name and they, in turn, sell . . .
http://www.continental.com.au/product/detail/254039/garden-peas

[Jackdaw33]

The only time I saw spinach was in the Popeye cartoons.

[Caran]

Don't get me wrong, my mum was a good cook with what was available. A roast, two veg and roasties were her staple. But she was not adventurous. Back then in the late forties, fifties early sixties money was in short supply.

[Jackdaw33]

Money was in short supply? So was food. A roast as a staple? She must have known the local spiv.

[RobNorth]

So called "garden" peas are freshly picked and frozen or canned within a couple of hours - just as nature made them.
An "inferior" Product known as "processed peas" are considerably cheaper, so what are they? Where do they come from? If they are processed this implies added cost - it's always been a mystery to me...

[Mamyalynne]

Leeks and celery featured a lot in stews and broths, then always sprouts with a roast and often darkest green spring cabbage - which as a child tasted bitter, but now I love.

[Mamyalynne]

//Processed peas are mature peas that have been dried, soaked, and then heat treated (processed) to prevent spoilage—in the same manner as pasteurizing. //

[Jackdaw33]

I loved celery when I was little, when it was was white, mild and with yellow flowers. Now that it is green and bitter I can't stand it. I can smell it a mile off in a cooked dish and wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.