Smashed peas on toast is popping up on menus across the UK as restaurants grow increasingly mindful of sustainability. Photo / Getty Images
Smashed peas on toast is popping up on menus across the UK as restaurants grow increasingly mindful of sustainability. Photo / Getty Images
It’s been the ultimate millennial symbol for a decade but avocado’s reign could be coming to an end, with a more humble – and much cheaper – ingredient set to take its place.
Smashed peas on toast is popping up on restaurant menus across the UK as an alternative toeveryone’s favourite nutritious topping, as restaurants are becoming increasingly mindful of sustainability.
Avocados mainly grow in Central and South America, with Mexico being the largest producer. Not only do they have to travel far to reach our brunch tables, but they also require vast amounts of water (9.5 billion litres, or 3800 Olympic swimming pools, are used every day for production in Mexico alone) and there is some concern that violent cartels could be involved in the trade, so-called “green gold”.
Peas are a logical swap in the UK as the vegetable is 90 per cent self-sufficient and 160,000 tonnes of the small, green seeds are produced by 700 growers each year, according to the British Growers Association.
Besides, they taste good, a factor ranking high on chefs’ list of priorities. Fallow, a restaurant in central London, has “No Avo” on sourdough on its breakfast menu. The toasted bread is topped with crushed English peas, smoked curds, walnuts, coriander, dukkah spice and, if you like, eggs.
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“Avocado doesn’t have a strong flavour at all,” says chef patron and co-owner Will Murray. “When you make guacamole, you season it with lime juice and coriander and a lot of the flavour comes from the ingredients you’re adding.
Avocado toast with roasted cherry tomatoes. Photo / 123RF
“Raw peas work well because they offer a truly distinctive flavour, they have a more grassy, herbal and sweet profile. As well as peas, we also use offcuts of courgette skin, mint and coriander to make the purée, but many green vegetables would be great for mimicking a guacamole-style purée.”
Cutting down on air miles is also important to the restaurant. “We wanted to create something that replicates the staple avocado on toast that people know and love, but with a focus on sustainability,” says Murray.
Over at Maene, a restaurant in east London, chef Nick Gilkinson has also turned his back on avo. On his brunch menu, guests can enjoy smashed butter beans on sourdough toast.
“As we focus on local, seasonal produce we felt it would be hypocritical to put avocados on the menu,” says Nick.
“We love avo on toast, but we wanted to get a bit creative as to how we recreate it. Butter beans provide a good replacement texturally to avocado and we add chilli and garlic oil and in summer, peas, to give it a similar colour.
“Also butter beans are high in protein and have some health benefits, which I think is an aspect of avocado that people really like.”
Toasted bread topped with butterbeans and thyme on a plate
Amelia Christie-Miller, founder of Bold Bean Co, agrees. “Avocado on toast has been so popular for so long because it’s healthy, satisfying and easy to prepare. Brits love things on toast more than any other nation.”
“Mixing it up is refreshing and can offer new culinary directions. Avocados make you think of lime and chilli but with say, butter beans for example, you could do for a topping of olive tapenade.”
Among the Bold Bean Co range is a newly released carlin pea – a forgotten British bean that can also be mashed and put on toast – but a regular garden pea is just as good.
“We grow a lot of things in this country, which we don’t use enough of and you get way more bang for your buck with beans or a packet of frozen peas. They’re more reliable than an avocado, which you never quite know if it’s ripe or not.”
Peas are more nutritious than you might think. Photo / Getty Images
And peas are more nutritious than you might think. Dr Emily Leeming, a registered dietitian, says: “The humble garden pea is one of the best plant-sources of protein, and they’re high in fibre too. This makes them satisfying, keeping you feeling fuller and more energised for longer.
“As they’re frozen just after picking, this keeps their nutrition locked in. I love them because they’re affordable too, as well as great for us.”
