I’m in western Michigan, in a rather small backwater village charming town, and the nearby Meijer has marrowfat peas (dried, in cellophane bags) in the international aisle.
I will state, for the record, that this is the first place I’ve ever seen them for sale, which is why I noticed them.
(I am a carnivore, and love meat fat. Marrow is particularly delicious. Peas are … usually at least edible, although I will say that fresh young peas picked right off the vine and eaten straight out of the pod are quite the springtime treat.
So “marrowfat peas” confuse me. Marrow … YAY! Fat … usually yay! Peas … usually okay! How does the combination work out?)
Based on my experiences in Australia, I’m not surprised. They do tend to do odd things with food (a slice of beetroot is a hamburger condiment?). But our Australian friends are no fools; if it’s lousy, they discard it; if it’s good, they stick with it. If they put a meat pie upside-down in a bowl of pea soup, you can bet it’s worth trying.
I remember one time when I was there, I was taught how to make a plain ordinary meat pie into a real Aussie meat pie: take a squirt bottle of ketchup, such as you find on the table in any diner, plunge the pointy nozzle into the pie, and squirt ketchup in until the pie bulges. Then dig in. It’s messy, but it is oh so good and filling.
Fries topped with gyro meat and, IIRC, a combination of ketchup, BBQ, chili, and yogurt sauces, optionally with cheese. It’s a variant on the classic “giant pile of fries and shit” meal that I knew as carne asada fries growing up in San Diego, in the same family as chili cheese fries, poutine, pastrami fries a la The Hat, and so on.
Thanks, @Smapti . Yeah, that would be a good closer to a night’s boozing. Best we could do in Toronto was Fran’s, an all night diner that was not quite so adventurous. We made do, but I would have loved to dig into your “giant pile of fries and shit.”
Damn, now I’m hungry for a giant pile of fries and shit.
When it comes to late night boozing or snacking, there used to be a bakery in Manhattan Kansas that opened for a couple of hours about 1:00AM on Friday and Saturday nights. It didn’t open the eating area, just sold stuff out the back door to the alley. Lots of huge doughnuts and sweetrolls and sugary stuff. Loved that place.
As has already been pointed out, marrowfat peas are different to split peas. What you’re describing is essentially pease pudding. You need to make it thick enough to spread on bread – or slice when cold. Goes very well with ham.
Speaking of peas… Pea Soup Andersen’s in Buellton closed Tuesday. The place was 100 years old. They are redeveloping the property, so it may return someday. But for now, the 101 is soupless south of Santa Nella.
The pea soup IS really good. I’ll miss their Monte Cristos. The place was a regular stop for my debate team coming back from the Stanford Invitational.
You can find dried whole peas here in the US, too. La Preferida sells them (may be a regional brand) Goya has them as well. I’m also pretty sure I’ve seen some variety of whole dried peas among the legumes in South Asian groceries. How close they are to dried marrowfat peas, I don’t know.
