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Mange Tout or Mangetout 

I have been perusing my new cookbook One-Pot Vegetarian by Sabrina Fauda-Role. I absolutely love the simplicity of one-pot cooking. And thanks to this book I am learning a few new words to add to my repertoire. Double cream was a word that caught my interest early on. Apparently in England they have a thicker cream than “heavy” and it cooks differently as well. The reason I know this is because Sabrina the author says, “put all the ingredients in the pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.” If you were substituting “heavy” cream then you would end up curdling the cream. Best to add cream at the end.  

The word I am writing about in this newsletter is mangetout. I had no idea what this word meant. I read and reread the recipe, studied the picture and nothing looked out of the ordinary. I knew what all the ingredients were, except snow peas were not listed but were definitely an ingredient. Then taking a page out of my kids’ book, “duh, just google it.” 

With my trusty I-phone in hand, I looked up mangetout. And low and behold it was referring to young snow or sugar peas. I am still scratching my head over the name of snow peas in England. However, the French word mange tout means to “eat all”. Which would certainly apply to what you do with snow peas – eat all of it. I also find it interesting that in France they call snow peas, sugar peas, referring to their delicate sweetness. 

The French mange tout is certainly a good admonition for all of us. I am going to heartily enjoy my latest one-pot wonder and eat it all, including the snow, sugar or mangetout peas! 

Thanks for choosing Box of Good to help feed your family, 

Tristan