Wendyl Wants to Know: Want peas? Go for the natural green

Batchelor's Original Mushy Peas. $2.99 for 300g. Photo / Wendyl Nissen

I recently spent some time in the UK and was reminded of how important a side of mushy peas is with your fish and chips.

I found this tin in the supermarket after developing a bit of a crush on mushy peas and desperately needing some now I was back in New Zealand.

These are obviously the real deal as they have "No 1 in the UK" on the label, so I bought them.

Then I found in them:
Batchelors Original
Mushy Peas.
$2.99 for 300g.

Ingredients (in order of greatest quantity first)

Processed peas (95%)

So these are peas which have been mushed up. Good to see that 95% of this can contains peas.

Water

Sugar

You'll get 4.2g or 1 teaspoon of sugar per can of these peas. As peas are naturally sweet you have to wonder why the addition of sugar is necessary.

Salt

Not a high salt product with 1.35g of salt per can.

Colours (E101, E133)

Not impressed with this. What can be more naturally green than some peas? When I opened the can the green was more of a slime green than pea green which is possibly due to the colourings which are riboflavin (101) which is a natural colouring and brilliant blue (133) which is an artificial blue colour.

My recommendations

I'm all for eating your greens, but preferably as they come in nature rather than in a can with colour and sugar added.

It's really easy to make your own mushy peas, so go for that option next time you really need a touch of British with your fish and chips.

Mix 500g of frozen peas with 1tbsp butter and cup of water in a saucepan.

Heat for 15 minutes then remove from the stove and mash.

Add another tablespoon of butter, a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped mint for extra flavour.

Highlights

• Has added sugar

• Uses two colours

• 95% peas

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