Arbeyos
This is a bit of a confusing word, as it requires context to know if the speaker is talking about green garden peas (Pisum Sativum) or common vetch (Vicia Sativa)[2]. For our purposes, we are going to assume we are speaking of Garden Peas - the Castellano guisante. The common garden pea. L'arbeyu is an integral part of Asturian early spring cuisine. It stars in the dish Arbeyos con Jamón, famous in Lena concejo because of the arbeyos grown in the village of Llanos in the parish of Somerón.
History
Originally a wild plant growing throughout the Mediterranean Basin, there is solid evidence of their use as a foodstuff since the late neolithic era.[3] Grown initially for their dried seeds, the pea was selected into many cultivars from roughly 7500 BCE until 300 BCE.[4] From Roman legions gathering peas to supplement their rations to Charles the Good of Flanders noting their key role in averting famine in 1124, the pea remained a constant and important part of European culinary history.[5] As a cool-season crop, they are an ideal plant for the Asturian climate. Since it rarely gets above 85F in Asturias, even in the hottest parts of the regions, peas grow well almost year-round.[6]
Cultivation
Arbeyos are usually planted between November and January and harvested in May, when they are tiny and perfect. Many folks seed them continuously from November to March and enjoy them throughout the spring and summer. The preferred cultivars are of two types. Alderman, Teléfono, and Lincoln are all late-bearing vine types.[7] Express is a mystery to me, as I have not found it for sale in Asturian garden shops, and the only named variety I can find is a yellow seeded variety.
In Llanos de Somerón, high in the mountains, they are famously harvested in September.[8] This late crop is prized for it's particularly fatty and meaty texture. IT certainly doesn't hurt their reputation that they are the only fresh peas available in the market at that time!
Uses in Asturian Cooking
In the Asturian kitchen, arbeyos take the pride of place that esparragos has in other parts of Spain - as the herald of spring and the beginning of the fullness of gardening season. Nowadays used only fresh (or fresh frozen), they are prepared in a variety of ways. From simply boiled with potatoes (echoes of the southern Appalachian dish Ham, Peas, & New Potatoes[9]) to an essential part of Menestra, to slow cooked with ham or bacon, to boiled and served along with Carne Guisada, the pea is ever-present in the Asturian repertoire.[10]
Recipes
No recipes on this site currently use Arbeyos
- ↑ Méndez Riestra, Eduardo. Sabores de Asturias: productos, cocina y tradiciones. pp 58. Nobel, 2013.
- ↑ https://mas.lne.es/diccionario/palabra/38838
- ↑ Zohary, Daniel and Hopf, Maria (2000). Domestication of Plants in the Old World, third edition. Oxford: University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850356-9. pp. 105–107.
- ↑ Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, A History of Food, 2nd ed. 2009:38ff.
- ↑ Michel Pitrat and Claude Four, Histoires de légumes: Des origines à l'orée du XXIe siècle, "Le pois au cours des siècles" :353
- ↑ “Pisum Sativum.” Pisum Sativum (Austrian Winter Pea, Austrian Winter Peas, English Pea, English Peas, Field Pea, Field Peas, Green Pea, Green Peas, Pea, Peas) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, N.C. Cooperative Extension, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pisum-sativum/.
- ↑ Alderman and Tall Telephone are considered the same cultivar in most of the US. It is possible that Teléfono is not the Tall Telephone cultivar, however. I have found one reference to it as a particularly North American development so I am mostly confident that Teléfono and Tall Telephone are the same.
- ↑ Méndez Riestra, Eduardo. Diccionario de cocina y gastronomía de Asturias. pp 60. 1st ed., Trea, 2017.
- ↑ Lundy, Ronni. Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes. 2016. pp301
- ↑ Alperi, Magdalena. Guía De La Cocina Asturiana. 1a ed, S. Cañada, 1981.pp 58
