A thoroughly Authentic British Mushy Peas recipe! The right flavor, the perfect texture, just like you know and love them from your favorite English pub or chippy!
What are fish & chips without mushy peas?? They are inseparable!
Where Did Mushy Peas Originate?
Fried fish & chips as a unified meal is thought to have originated in northern England just outside of Manchester in the mid-1800’s. To this day the Northerners remain proud of their fish & chip legacy. And they’re also quite insistent that fish & chips be served with mushy peas, the traditional side for generations. While most areas throughout Britain offer mushy peas with fish & chips, you could say that in northern England it’s practically sacrilege not to.
When visiting Britain, even Michael Jackson insisted on mushy peas with his fish & chips. So there you have it. Inseparable.
Besides being the fish-and-chip-and-mushy-peas champion, Northern England is home to breathtaking landscapes, stunning historic cities and beautiful villages. And I can’t talk about British food without talking about the country, so let’s take a brief tour.
A Brief Tour of a Beautiful Northern English City
One of my many favorite places in northern England is the city of Chester, which borders the northeast part of Wales. I have ancestors from all over Great Britain including numerous parts of England, Scotland and Wales. But my most recent ancestors, my great grandparents on my father’s side, come from Wales on one side of the family and from Cheshire, England (home of Chester) on the other.
Chester was originally founded as a Roman fort in 79 AD and later became a major civilian settlement. It was 20% larger than any other fortress built at the time and historians speculate that Chester, not London, was meant to become the Roman capital in Britain. A particularly powerful fortress, Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans.
Chester remains one of the best preserved walled cities in all of Britain and features a number of medieval buildings. During the years I lived in England, Chester was one of my favorite cities to visit. It’s a remarkable and unique city with a gorgeous town center and stunning cathedral.
On a side note, Chester also used to have the world’s best fudge shop and you could sample the most wonderful, creative flavors of fudge while watching the fudge makers at work. We were there this past May and it was gone! Replaced by some good-but-not-nearly-as-good fudge chain store :(
I love Chester’s town center. Just look at those gorgeous buildings!
And Chester even still has an official Town Crier – our kids are posing with him below.
The Chester cathedral is stunning. The building of it began around 1093 AD and the process continued over several centuries with modifications and additions made over time. As a result its construction incorporates every major style of English medieval architecture. The cathedral is still in use for worship services and aside from being a major tourist attraction it also hosts concerts and exhibitions.
And circling back to our original topic of FOOD, should you ever order fish & chips at a chippy in Chester (that’s a tongue-twister!), you can be sure they’ll have mushy peas!
So let’s talk about how to make authentic mushy peas. Most recipes you’ll find online improvise using fresh English peas or frozen peas and there are cooks in southern England that do the same. Friends, those are completely the wrong peas. Ask any Northerner and they’ll tell you that mushy peas must be made with marrowfat peas.
What Are Marrowfat Peas?
Marrowfat peas are mature green peas that have been deliberately left to dry out naturally in the field rather than being picked while they’re young like regular garden peas. Marrowfat peas are what are traditionally used to make English Mushy Peas and they’re also the variety of pea used to make wasabi peas. They much larger than regular peas and have a particularly high starch content. This creates a very different consistency to mushy peas than regular peas will. Cooked into Mushy Peas, marrowfat peas will give you a smoother, creamier consistency.
They’ll give you both a significantly different flavor and texture than regular peas and if you’re interested in making authentic mushy peas – the real deal – it will be worthy your time to hunt down the right peas.
Where Can You Buy Marrowfat Peas?
Unless you live in Great Britain, they’re hard to find. I stock up on them when I go to England but fortunately you can also find them online. You can buy genuine British marrowfat peas on Amazon. Bachelor’s is probably the best-known brand of marrowfat peas.
A Few Important Tips
Again, if you want to make authentic mushy peas like the way they’re served at pubs and fish & chip shops throughout Britain, with the right flavor and right texture, be sure to use marrowfat peas.
The other key to making authentic mushy peas is to avoid embellishments. Mushy peas are simple: Marrowfat peas, baking soda (for softening), water and salt. That’s it! They’ll taste just like you remember them.
And as for green food coloring….NO WAY!!!!!
A really good fish & chip shop knows they don’t have to try and win you over by artificially making their peas look prettier. Good mushy peas speak for themselves the moment you taste them.
How to Make Mushy Peas
Let’s get started!
Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water. Place the dried marrowfat peas in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them so they’re covered by at least 3 inches of water. Give the peas a stir then leave them to soak for at least 12 hours.
Drain and rinse the peas and place them in a pot with about 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the desired consistency is reached. Note: How long you have to simmer the peas will depend on the particular crop and the age of the peas.
If it seems like it’s taking them forever to soften up, don’t worry, the peas will begin to break down within a few minutes (photo bottom right).
Once the peas have fully broken down add the salt.
If the peas are too watery, continue to simmer with the lid off until it thickens to your liking. If the peas are too thick, add a little water. Taste again and add more salt if needed.
Once the peas are done they will start to thicken the longer they sit. If reheating them later or the next day, add a little more water.
Serve the mushy peas with fish & chips or traditional meat pies.
Enjoy!
Serve these mushy peas with British Fish and Chips or traditional meat pies.
© Travelling-light | Dreamstime
For more authentic British recipes try our:
- Fish and Chips
- Yorkshire Pudding
- Cornish Pasties
- Bangers and Mash
- Crumpets
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Mincemeat Pie
- Beef and Guinness Stew
- Spotted Dick
- Yorkshire Parkin
- Toad in the Hole
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Eccles Cakes
- Pickled Onions
- Scottish Shortbread
- Homemade Golden Syrup
- Treacle Tart
Authentic British Mushy Peas
Ingredients
- 9 ounces dried marrowfat peas (there is no substitute, marrowfat peas are larger, have a higher starch content, and contribute the right flavor and texture for traditional mushy peas)
- Boiling water
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water. Place the dried marrowfat peas in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them so they're covered by at least 3 inches of water. Give the peas a stir then leave them to soak for at least 12 hours.
- Drain and rinse the peas and place them in a pot with about 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the desired consistency is reached. Once the peas have fully broken down add the salt. Note: How long you have to simmer the peas will depend on the particular crop and the age of the peas.
- If the peas are too watery, continue to simmer with the lid off until it thickens to your liking. If the peas are too thick, add a little water. Taste again and add more salt if needed.
Once the peas are done they will start to thicken the longer they sit. If reheating them later or the next day, add a little more water.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet October 16, 2018
mIKES says
By the way, for us in the U.S.A.: If you buy even just one box of these peas, you now own a box filled with SEEDS. The Bigga Marrowfats peas are fully viable and you can plant a field of your own Marrowfats, basically, forever. I bought the 6 pack offa Amazon and took 5 peas out of one box and got 100% germination. Use them for pea sprouts, or in my use case, I’m going to plant a few raised beds next season and harvest my own Marrowfats. It’s nice to have a source for a meal, but to leverage them into a lifetime supply is even more fun.
Kimberly Killebrew says
It’s funny you mention that, I’ve been growing marrowfat the past three years from my boxes of Bigga marrowfat peas! :)
mIKES says
Here’s the thing: After I became infatuated with mushy peas here in the U.S., I tried every single seed retailer and the best that I could do was some sketchy ETSY sellers. Like 10 seeds for $5.00…. It was only after sleuthing some U.K. you tubers and blogs that I made the connection. It’s rare to buy “seeds” from a food retailer that are dual purpose. The only other seed like this would be Fenugreek from the Indian markets. I started using those in my raised beds to help fix nitrogen – a cover crop.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Many grocery store legumes will grow – pinto beans, black eyed peas, etc. They make for cheap cover crops.
Have you tried saving pea seeds from the first generation of plants to grow second generation plants? I grow mostly open-pollinated/heirloom veggies so I can save the seeds and enable the plants to adapt to my growing environment, but when I’ve tried growing second generation marrowfat pea plants from the saved seeds of the first generation plants, all I got were pea plants without a single pea on them.
Sir Kevin Parr Bt says
Sadly info is incorrect the first open Fish and chip shop was recorded in London .1863 and is still open today .Mushy peas is Northern dish first made in Chester according to Mrs Beaton
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Kevin, I discuss the origins here in my fish and chips recipe post: https://www.daringgourmet.com/fish-and-chips/. What you’re referring to is the first “shop” to have opened and serve fish and chips, not the origin of the recipe itself. There are much earlier references to the fried fish portion of fish and chips, for example Charles Dickens made reference to it in 1838 and then again by Victorian chef Alexis Soyer in his 1845 cookbook. However fish AND chips – together – as a unified meal is thought to have originated in Manchester, with the first commercial shop to start serving it in London.
David Drew says
By the way 30 mins to break the Peas down I don’t think so just did a batch and it was closer to 3 hours AND a little friendly persuasion with a hand masher . Taste great .
David Drew says
If you live in Toronto Mushy Peas are easily available at St Lawrence market lower level at a place called Rubes [ I think ] .
David says
Lancashire lad, tried your recipe several times and although they turned out ok I could never get the consistency I wanted. Then a friend suggested my slow cooker and they were perfect. Almost as good as my favourite fish shop in Fleetwood unfortunately 300 miles away.
Rob says
The second link for peas is not a link to marrowfat peas. Already made that mistake.
Kimberly Killebrew says
That’s very helpful to know, Rob, sorry you had to find out the hard way that they were misadvertised. The link is removed.
Warren says
I have a question. When the peas are cooked the translucent hulls come off. These are chewy but have virtually no taste. I’ve been floating them off with cold water in the same way I would lentils then putting the peas back on to finish cooking. The result is wonderfully tasty and just as you describe but I see no mention of that cooking technique either here or on the Bigga box. Are the peas traditionally made with or without the hulls?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Warren, I’ll sometimes skim the hulls off that float to the top while the peas are cooking but it isn’t necessary – once the peas are fully cooked and the hulls are stirred back in they’re not noticeable.