Peas

Description

Once peas and various dishes with it were an integral part of any meal, now many people prefer to buy it only in canned form, and the place of dry peas was taken by simple and familiar cereals – rice, buckwheat, oatmeal.

Those who have summer cottages are more fortunate: every summer, they also enjoy fresh green peas. This week REDMOND Club found out who was the first to canned peas, how to choose them, and what to cook from them.

Peas are a plant of the legume family. Its closest relatives are beans, soybeans, lentils. The fact that they all ripen in pods unites them. Traces of this plant still appear at the sites of the Stone Age. According to scientists, it was a wild crop in different parts of the world, and people gradually domesticated them.

Peas are mentioned in the Bible, in various Greek and Roman works. Before our era, they were an important garden crop. In the Middle Ages, they became one of the main dishes in ordinary families because they were cheaper, stored for a long time, and the dishes made from them were hearty and nutritious.

Plant history

For a long time, these beans were popular only in dried form; dishes with fresh peas were a rarity and were a gastronomic delight. Italians were the pioneers in the preparation of green peas.

In France, it was fashioned by the Sun King – Louis XIV, when one of his chefs brought a recipe for green beans from Italy. The monarch appreciated the new dish, and the peas with toasted lard took a firm place on the royal table.

In Minnesota, in the Blue Earth area, there is a statue of a giant green pea.

Enterprising medieval chefs did not stop preparing dried and green peas and came up with a new way of processing it – conservation! The idea belongs to Dutch chefs who made the first cans of this plant in the 16th century. Over time, a special variety was even bred for canned options – cerebral, characterized by a sweet taste and large size.

In Europe, canned peas were trendy, but in Russia, on the contrary. Peas produced by single factories were as expensive as foreign ones. Everything changed in the USSR: the volume of production became so huge that for some time, the Soviet Union ranked second in terms of conservation of peas, second only to the United States.

Composition and calorie content

• Caloric content 298 kcal
• Proteins 20.5 g
• Fat 2 g
• Carbohydrates 49.5 g

Split peas, cereals are rich in vitamins and minerals such as: vitamin B1 – 60%, vitamin B5 – 46%, vitamin B6 – 15%, vitamin H – 39%, vitamin K – 12.1%, vitamin PP – 36%, potassium – 29.2%, silicon – 276.7%, magnesium – 22%, phosphorus – 28.3%, iron – 38.9%, cobalt – 86%, manganese – 35%, copper – 59%, molybdenum – 120.3%, chromium – 18%, zinc – 20.3%

The benefits of peas

Peas are rich in nutrients and vitamins. It has fairly low-calorie content, so you can safely include it in your diet, even if you follow the correct diet or diet. Peas stand out among other vegetables for their significant protein content, and in some cases, they can replace animal proteins.

Especially a lot of iodine and iron in peas, which are necessary for preventing obesity, anemia, atherosclerosis, goiter disease. Substances lecithin, inositol, choline, and methionine, also included in its composition, regulate the metabolism of fats and cholesterol levels and positively affect the cardiovascular system.

When eaten, it has undeniable beneficial properties for the body. They are as follows:

• These cereals are useful for those who have a problem with swelling of tissues and internal organs. The product removes fluid and salt from the kidneys.
• The benefits of peas for the body are to prevent the development of cancer.
• Sprouted bean has a beneficial effect on lowering cholesterol, removes toxins from the body, and normalizes heart function.
• The medicinal properties of peas are that the product contains iodine. This substance heals the thyroid gland in case of its deficiency in the human body.
• Bob relieves eye fatigue and prevents the development of cataracts and the symptoms of this unpleasant disease.
• Boiled bean is useful for people who have stomach problems, except intestinal flatulence or irritation.
• Bean stimulates the immune system, which is especially important during periods when there is an increase in influenza and SARS.
• Increases a person’s performance, supplying his body with energy, which makes it easier to endure physical activity.
• Reduces cholesterol.
• The product is useful for tuberculosis.

Use in cosmetology

This product is beneficial not only in the process of its consumption. For example, it is widely used in cosmetology. In particular, it maintains the beauty of the skin and cleanses it. For example, with its help, they successfully cope with such pathologies spoiling a person’s appearance as acne, eczema, psoriasis.

The use of peas in cosmetology is because it contains vitamins E and B1.

Cosmetologists create modern masks. But many ladies prefer to do them at home. The masks are based on dry peas. It is not boiled but processed into a powder in a coffee grinder. You can add some honey and olive oil to the mask.

The benefits for women

The benefits of peas for women are not only in improving the functioning of all organs and body systems but also in appearance. The product contains a large amount of calcium, which is necessary for maintaining the beauty of hair, nails, and skin.

1. Iron, which is part of the product, replenishes hemoglobin, which falls during menstruation.
2. Folic acid is a vitamin that is beneficial for women. The benefits of peas during pregnancy are an irreplaceable product.
3. For those concerned about the cleanliness of the face’s skin, masks can be made based on peas, or they can be purchased in a specialized store.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding

Peas are not only beneficial but also harmful to health. It is not recommended for women who are breastfeeding. But during pregnancy, it is allowed to use it. In this difficult period, you need to be calm, which will help with folic acid in peas.

For men

Not so many fats and carbohydrates (BJU), but protein forms muscle mass. This is true for men who sculpt their own bodies.

Besides, protein provides endurance to the body when training hard in the gym.

IMPORTANT: the product has a beneficial effect on the potency of men, enhances sexual activity. Folic acid improves sperm quality.

For kids

What are the vitamins in peas? From an early age, kids eat peas. The product contains B vitamins, which are indispensable in forming the child’s body and the child’s psyche.

IMPORTANT: for parents whose children eat little, peas are a way out of a difficult situation, as they increase the child’s appetite. But in large quantities, it is not eaten!

Harm and contraindications

Absolute contraindications to the use of the product are observed in the following cases:

• Flatulence.
• Gout.
• Digestive disorders.

It irritates the intestines if a person has gastrointestinal problems. If diagnosed with gout, then it is strictly forbidden to eat it. He will harm. The product contains a large amount of protein.

This is useful for people who do not have this pathology. But purine compounds will have adverse effects on someone with gout, in 100 gr. The amount of purine compounds is 64 mg, which is approximately 150 mg of uric acid.

Its excess in the human body leads to this disease.

Peas are not healthy for jade. This is because, during the processing of food, nitrogenous slags appear from protein. They are excreted through the kidneys. If this paired organ is in an inflamed state, then the process becomes much more complicated. Toxins that they do not remove accumulate in human blood over time.

How to choose peas

Peas are of two main types: shelling and sugar (brain) varieties. The former can only eat grains; most often, cereals and soups are cooked from them. With sugar varieties, you can eat both fruits and pods in any form.

The most useful is fresh or freshly frozen peas; in such cases, it retains a maximum of vitamins and nutrients. If you want to buy dried peas, it is better to take chopped peas, since they cook faster.

Canned beans are the hardest to choose. In this case, first of all, you should familiarize yourself with the composition. Canned peas should contain nothing extra than sugar, salt, water, and green peas.

Much also depends on the date of production: in the winter months, dry or freshly frozen peas are usually canned, and if you want to purchase the most useful product, you should choose canned food produced in summer or early autumn.

Taste qualities of peas and their safety after processing

Peas have a soft, sweetish taste and a fleshy texture. Green peas are juicy and tasty. They are good raw, canned, frozen, or dried and stored. Brain or sugar varieties have the most pronounced sweetish taste.

When properly harvested and processed, peas are green or yellowish-green in color. In such legumes, there is the maximum amount of vitamins of group B and K. It tastes good and boils down well. Over-dried peas are easily recognizable by the wrinkled, gray-yellow fruits, which, when milled, turn into flour.

When dried out or improperly stored, processed, they lose their taste and become powdery, dry, hard. Such peas are better to soake in water for at least one hour before being used for food – the fruits will absorb the required amount of water, swell and turn into a homogeneous consistency when cooked.

Canned peas retain their taste well, which is not true for vitamins – by the time the product arrives in stores, it retains a minimum of valuable properties. It retains well its richness with vitamins, its original taste, and the appearance – freshly frozen peas.

The use of peas in cooking

Due to their nutritional properties, taste, and chemical composition, peas have long been one of the favorite culinary specialist products worldwide. Peas are equally well in combination with other vegetables, for example, onions, carrots, potatoes. An almost unlimited list of dishes can be prepared on its basis. These are various stews, and soups, and cereals, and even bread.

The main methods of cooking peas:

• Freezing;
• Conservation;
• Cooking;
• Baking;
• Adding pea flour to baked goods.

This delicious bean fruit, which has long been famous worldwide for its useful and nutritious properties, can be a good ingredient to prepare a great variety of dishes: both Russian and foreign cuisine.

• The most popular pea-based dishes are:
• Soup of peas (mushroom, smoked, vegetable, etc.);
• Pea and spice puree soup;
• Pea porridge (with or without sautéed onions and carrots);
• Pudding;
• Pies and pies with pea filling;
• Salads with the addition of peas (canned);
• Pea flour, bread, and much more.

In the 19th century, pea sausage became a part of the German army’s diet along with other products. Because peas are more nourishing than potatoes and other legumes, such a diet helped the soldiers conserve strength, avoiding hunger for a long time.
Alexey Mikhailovich, the father of Peter the Great, did not neglect this wonderful product either. He considered steamed peas with butter as one of his favorite dishes.

Peas are no less popular these days. It is widespread in home-cooked dishes and the menus of gourmet restaurants, cafes, and eateries, both as a main dish and as a side dish or side dish.