Petits Pois à la Menthe

Petits Pois à la Menthe (minted peas) teaches one true thing: green vegetables must leave the water the moment they become tender. A minute too little can be corrected. A minute too much steals their sweetness, colour, and delicate pop, and no quantity of mint will give those back.

Unlike many brigade preparations, this one asks for neither a saucier, a standing stockpot, nor a salamander. What the original assumed was a great cauldron kept at the boil, peas cooked to order, and a warm serving dish waiting. At home, a wide saucepan and a colander do the same work. The brigade quantity becomes 500 grams for four, while the book's sequence remains intact: boil the peas with a bunch of fresh mint, drain them, finish à l'anglaise (English style) or au beurre (butter-finished), then lay parboiled mint leaves over the top. The cold rinse for those garnish leaves is the only modern addition, preserving their green without changing the flavour.

The two finishes are distinct. À l'anglaise leaves pats of butter melting over the peas in the serving dish; au beurre tosses peas and butter together in the warm pan until they gleam. Both are right. Taste early, then drain the peas at the precise instant their raw starchiness gives way to sweetness. That moment is the dish.