Do I Not Like Mushy Peas

Prompted by a post written by Marianne over on her "Like A Sponge" blog about pulse discrimination, this post is about the British delicacy of mushy peas.

Mushy peas are essentially soaked marrowfat peas which are then cooked. The end result is a thick, lumpy, green splodge. And yes, that is the technical term for them.....

They are traditionally served with the great British fish and chips, which regular readers will know I am a fan of. However, there is no way, no how, I will eat fish and chips with mushy peas. They are vile. Foul. By far, mushy peas are my most loathed food. The most disgusting monstrous green mess that has ever passed my lips. They turn my stomach. Mushy peas are in fact evil green mush.

Mushy Peas in all their glory

Photo: Carol (Flickr) (Creative Commons)

And that green? It's not real. It's an artificial colouring to make them greener than green. Artificial green mush.

And whilst I am on the subject of peas, I don't think much of parched peas either. Also known as black peas, this is a traditional Lancashire dish. A good friend introduced me to them in Preston. She bought them from a food stand in town and then tried to force feed them to me. Their evilness was one step below mushy peas on the food evilness scale.

Reading Marianne's post and being forced to conjure up images of mushy peas, I was hastily reminded to never, ever be diminutive of the mashed up meals that constitutes Dutch cuisine. At least the Dutch do not do the evilness that is mushy peas.

What food from your home country do you NOT miss? Have you ever had the misfortune to eat mushy peas?

This post was adapted from a post originally published on my blog A Letter from the Netherlands which won a Foodie Alice award from Displaced Nation.