In Season Vegetable for November 2008 – Fresh Garden Peas.
Before you switch off reading about peas, you may be surprised, but they are one of the richest fresh vegetable sources of iron and also contain a good amount of vitamin B1 (thiamin). The iron can help prevent anaemia, while the thiamin is required to convert food into energy and help maintain a healthy heart and nervous system. The soluble fibre in peas makes them a good choice for diabetics because it both slows down the release of energy and stabilizes blood sugar levels. The fibre also helps protect the heart by reducing cholesterol levels.
The green pigment in peas, chlorophyllin, can help prevent cancer because it carries free radicals out of the body. Plant hormones, lignans, are thought to protect against hormone-dependent cancers as well as menopausal problems. The carotenoids lutein and zaethanin help maintain healthy eyes, and folic acid can help prevent birth defects and helping reduce the risk of heart disease.
Peas have much to answer for in the gourmand-to-gluttony sense. King John of England is said to have died reluctantly and without dignity from over-eating green peas. King William III gained a matchless reputation as a boorish pig by hogging the green peas whenever they appeared at the royal table, leaving none for the others. There is no record of his death by pea-stuffing but assuredly he spent some uncomfortable nights. Ancient Greeks cultivated peas and ate them dried. They were common food of the Romans and the dried pea retained its popularity through the Middle Ages although the fresh ones were a luxury reserved for royalty and the wealthy.
Nearly all edible peas are varieties of one species – the fresh, garden pea as we know it – which probably originated in the north of India. The difference between the food values of green and dried peas is substantial. The green contains 7 per cent protein, 12 per cent carbohydrate, 80 calories per 100 grams; dried peas contain 20 per cent protein, 54 per cent carbohydrate, 3 per cent fat and 334 calories per 100 grams.
Those of us who remember going to the greengrocer every Saturday morning to buy the family’s pack of peas for Sunday dinner remember, too, the bonus of being given the job of shelling them. No tedium here with sweet, young peas never finding their way to the pot. Gradually, this most pleasant of vegetables is finding its way back into the hearts and stomachs of New Zealanders. It is reappearing in increasing quantities on the market and is finding ready buyers. There is but one way successfully to grow, market, retail and eat the green pea: it must be harvested while young and tender and, yes, before it is fully matured. The pea must be sold quickly to consumers and then preferably eaten without storage. Fresh peas peak in December, although their season begins in November and finishes during the month of February.
In Season Fruit for November 2008 – Fresh Strawberries.
Delicious, red, bright looking, strawberries have to be a hit in anyone’s family, and it is not until after Labour Weekend that they really start to hit their straps. November and December are the two best months to begin to put these in to your diet, as they’re less watery now and their sweet and mature flavour comes through. A daily portion of strawberries can help ward off infections and keep your heart healthy by raising blood folate levels, which helps to reduce the build-up of the harmful amino acid homocysteine in the blood and by reducing systolic blood pressure. Strawberries may also be anti-ageing. They certainly become one of the fruits I choose to put on top of my morning cereal and yogurt in their season, along with the standard banana and kiwifruit of course.
The fruits have some of the same disease-fighting antioxidants as raspberries, including ellagic acid, which combats carcinogens, and anthocyanidins, which have anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Their antioxidant phenols may help ease arthritis and asthma, while the proanthocyanidins are thought to help keep the urinary tract and the heart healthy. High levels of dietary fibre mean that strawberries are good for cleansing the digestive system and can reduce the risk of intestinal disorders as well as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Strawberries have high sugar content; contains phosphorous, potassium, vitamins A & C, ascorbic acid, and are rich in minerals.
They’re an uppity fruit, having been revered in verse by Virgil & Ovid & cited for its medicinal value by Apuleius. The Anglo Saxons called the strawberry “hayberry” because it ripened when the hay was mown – hence Anglo-Saxon “streo”, meaning “hay”. It is descriptive, too, of the manner in which, like all of us, the runners “strew” or “stray” from the mother plant to find space. Now New Zealand-grown Tioga strawberries are among the finest produced anywhere in the world & are praised for their quality in the major overseas markets (unfortunately for Tioga lovers there are newer varieties out now, due to their volume per acreage & keeping qualities, & as a result, the flavour is disadvantaged). But the Tioga were once served to Royalty at Wimbledon, where the strawberry-fest rivals the tennis-fest for the attention of epicures, & are prized by international chefs for their matchless flavour & texture.
Be sure you get value for money when you buy. There are many different sizes of berry in the punnets on offer & this means a variation in weight of anything up to 150 grammes (Large packs are approximately 350-400gm. There is no legal requirement to state a weight on strawberries under 400gm). There is, too, a growing tendency - & not only with strawberries – to produce for eye appeal in preference to taste. With strawberries this emerges as a marvellous- looking individual, bright red on the outside & white & tasteless inside. As, traditionally, a highly-respected producer of strawberries New Zealand should not allow itself to fall into this sort of fakery. Much credit for the wide distribution of New Zealand strawberries is due to firms like Turners & Growers Exports Ltd. From about Labour weekend (for eight weeks until about Christmas) New Zealand air-freights strawberries to an avid market, most notably North America. Auckland growers have geared their planting & production to meet this market & the domestic consumer benefits from the additional harvest.
Enjoy this mighty sweet piece of red fruit now, for the whole family, until your heart’s content.
Glenn Forsyth.