Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Petits Pois à la Française
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2193, Petits Pois à la Française, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Petits Pois à la Française cook peas, tiny onions, lettuce, herbs, sugar, and butter under a tight lid, using three spoonfuls of water to make their own glossy liquor.
Side Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
One Pot
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
Petits Pois à la Française (peas cooked in the French manner) teaches cuisson à l'étuvée, gentle covered cooking in a vegetable's own moisture. The one true thing to know before touching the pan is that the three spoonfuls of water are not a broth. They only begin the cooking; the peas, lettuce, onions, and butter make the glossy liquor themselves.
The original assumed a saucier could pack the saucepan in advance, leave it in a cool larder, and put it over the fire at the precise moment service required. At home, use a snug lidded saucepan and the refrigerator. The source's faggot becomes a lettuce-and-herb bundle tied with kitchen twine, while obsolete loaf sugar becomes superfine sugar at the same weight so it dissolves evenly. This particular quart of peas is already right for four generous side portions. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The professional cold hold is scheduling scaffolding and can go if dinner is ready to move. The cold pack, the tight lid, the exact three spoonfuls of water, and the final monter au beurre must stay, because they are the dish. Guard the covered cooking above all: let the peas simmer gently in their own liquor, neither boiling hard nor drying out.
Petits Pois à la Française belongs to the Parisian cuisine bourgeoise and the codified national table, where spring peas were cooked with lettuce, small onions, butter, and a little sugar. It traveled from the household saucepan to the grand-kitchen garnish without losing its domestic method: the raw ingredients enter one pan and make their own liquor rather than borrowing stock. The traditional debate concerns the lettuce, which may be sliced back through the peas or served in quarters, but it is never merely decorative; it perfumes and moistens the pan.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
freshly shelled peas
Quantity
1 quart (4 cups / 950 ml / 600 g)
very small pearl or boiling onions
Quantity
12 (about 1 cup / 240 ml / 180 g)
peeled
small butter lettuce heart
Quantity
1 (about 2 loosely packed cups / 475 ml / 90 g)
kept whole
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 sprigs
chervil
Quantity
2 sprigs
unsalted butter
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 113 g)
cut into small pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 2/3 teaspoons (8 ml / 9.5 g)
superfine sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons (22 ml / 19 g)
cold water
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g)
cold unsalted butter for finishing
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
diced
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| freshly shelled peas | 1 quart (4 cups / 950 ml / 600 g) |
| very small pearl or boiling onionspeeled | 12 (about 1 cup / 240 ml / 180 g) |
| small butter lettuce heartkept whole | 1 (about 2 loosely packed cups / 475 ml / 90 g) |
| flat-leaf parsley | 2 sprigs |
| chervil | 2 sprigs |
| unsalted buttercut into small pieces | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 113 g) |
| fine sea salt | 1 2/3 teaspoons (8 ml / 9.5 g) |
| superfine sugar | 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons (22 ml / 19 g) |
| cold water | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) |
| cold unsalted butter for finishingdiced | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 3-quart saucepan with a snug-fitting lid
- •Kitchen twine
- •Broad wooden or silicone spoon
Instructions
- 1
Tie the lettuce bundle
Tuck the parsley and chervil against the lettuce heart, then tie the bundle securely in two places with kitchen twine. Keep the lettuce whole so it can soften without disappearing among the peas. The twine is the honest home equivalent of the source's compact faggot, and it lets you recover the herbs and lettuce cleanly at the end.
- 2
Pack the pan cold
Choose a heavy 3-quart saucepan, just a little larger than the ingredients. Add the peas, onions, 1/2 cup butter, salt, and sugar, then nestle the lettuce bundle through the middle. Turn everything gently with a broad spoon until the butter is distributed and the ingredients settle into a compact mass without crushing the peas. Cover and cook immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours if the rest of dinner isn't ready.
- 3
Cook under cover
Pour the three tablespoons of cold water around the edge of the pan and cover tightly. Set the pan over medium-low heat until you hear the first quiet simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, shaking the covered pan gently every 5 minutes. The peas should become tender while holding their shape, and a knife should enter an onion without resistance. If the pan sounds dry before that point, don't let the butter brown. Ça se rattrape: add one tablespoon of water, cover again, and continue gently. If the peas are tender but swimming in liquid, remove the bundle and simmer uncovered for a minute or two before the butter finish.
Resist lifting the lid repeatedly. The trapped moisture is doing the work that a larger quantity of cooking liquid would ordinarily do. - 4
Cisel the lettuce
Lift out the bundle and cut away the twine. Discard the exhausted parsley and chervil, then cisel the cooked lettuce, cutting it crosswise into narrow ribbons as the source directs. Fold the lettuce through the peas with a soft hand. If you prefer the older alternate presentation, quarter the cooked heart and lay it over the peas instead.
- 5
Monter au beurre
Take the pan completely off the heat. Add the tablespoon of cold butter and swirl or fold the peas until their liquor and butter cohere into a light, glossy emulsion. This is monter au beurre, finishing with cold butter away from the fire. If the surface looks oily instead of glossy, add a teaspoon of cold water and swirl again. Ça se rattrape. Taste for salt, spoon the peas into a warm serving dish with every drop of their liquor, and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose peas whose pods feel crisp and full, then shell them as close to cooking as practical. Large, starchy peas can still be good here, but they need the full gentle cooking time; tenderness matters more than keeping them aggressively green.
- •When fresh peas are poor, use frozen petite peas picked at their peak. Cook the onions and lettuce bundle with the butter, seasonings, and water for 10 minutes first, then add the frozen peas and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes. The sequence changes because frozen peas are already tender, and pretending otherwise only makes them tired.
- •Superfine sugar replaces the source's loaf sugar gram for gram. It is not there to turn the peas sweet; it rounds any faint bitterness in the lettuce and supports the peas' own flavor.
- •Use a snug pan. A broad skillet sheds the precious vegetable liquor too quickly, while an overcrowded little pot crushes the peas when you turn them. The specified 3-quart saucepan gives the compact mass room to move without leaving it exposed.
Advance Preparation
- •Shell the peas, peel the onions, and tie the lettuce-herb bundle up to a day ahead. Refrigerate them separately in covered containers so the peas stay plump and the herbs remain fresh.
- •The complete cold-packed pan may be refrigerated for up to 4 hours before cooking. The finished peas are best served immediately, but leftovers keep for 2 days and can be reheated gently with a teaspoon of water and a small piece of butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
26 g
Saturated Fat
16 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
68 mg
Sodium
960 mg
Total Carbohydrates
31 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
9 g
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