Peas have a special place in French culture and cuisine. One of the earliest cultivated food crops, they achieved a special status at Versailles in Louis XIV’s court, where peas were considered “potager du roi,” or royal fruit. King Louis liked to eat his peas raw.
Peas should be finger food, especially those delightfully plump sugar snap peas from farmers markets. These are peas you don’t want to cook. So sweet and crunchy, they often don’t make it into any dish because I’ve finished the bag on the drive home.
