As spring comes to an end, so do peas. A sad thing for us, no doubt. Saying goodbye to our favourite ingredient was hard, but necessary. However, I’m confident we honoured this noble vegetable in the best way we could. First with artichokes, then in a pasta dish, and finally taking centre stage as a Royale, we used it with a lot of love and attention, anxiously aware that this moment would eventually come.
I’m here today to talk about the last dish we made with peas: Royale of Peas and Rhubarb. Perhaps my favourite dish from the first six months of Flor, it expresses the many personalities and the versatility of peas. The different elements complemented each other in a beautiful, natural way, using every part of the plant, which is always something that makes me feel good. It’s also a good example of how we work: taking an ingredient as a theme and amplifying its notes through different preparations of itself, only to return to its original flavour, or what we imagine its natural flavour to be.
A “royale” is a classic French preparation: a savoury custard set with eggs, using a flavourful stock as its liquid base. A sort of European chawanmushi, shall we say. At Flor, we do things a little differently to suit our intentions. We don’t use eggs because we didn’t want to dilute or alter the flavour of the peas, so instead we set the base with the smallest amount of gelatine possible. However, we borrowed the name Royale and took inspiration from this old school dish because it simply sounds and looks so cool, doesn’t it?
This dish also thrives on the popular philosophy among chefs that “if it grows together, it goes together”. The acidity and flavour of rhubarb really help the peas, making them lighter and more delicate on the palate, while balancing their intensity, especially towards the end of the season when they tend to become a little starchier. Rhubarb also plays an important textural role here: added in two forms, a gently set syrup and a pickled brunoise, it elevates the dish even further.
We finish things off with a classic pairing: peas and mint. A mint granita complements the dish, making it even more refreshing, while also creating the visual illusion of a frosty early spring morning walk through the garden. A dish that, in our opinion, has been the most faithful representation of who we are and what we stand for.
The mise en place for this dish was a challenge for our small team, as it involved many different steps and preparations, a precise order for making and layering the components in the bowls, and strict mathematics to calculate the exact quantity of gelatine needed to maintain a consistent texture. On busy mornings, making these was really difficult, sometimes even painful, but well worth the effort.
RECIPE
Yields 25 portions
To make the Royale, firstly you need to shell the peas and separate them into 3 different containers:
- Pea Pods (You’ll need about 2000g)
- Big and Medium sized Peas (You’ll need 750g)
- Small sized Peas (You’ll need 375g)
From that point, the mise en place starts.
For the Pickled Rhubarb in Rhubarb Syrup:
Make the Brunoise of Rhubarb:
- Rhubarb, super red
Peel the Rhubarb and keep the skins in a bowl. Cut the Rhubarb into neat cubes, saving all of the trimmings in the same bowl as for the skins. Keep the Brunoise Rhubarb in a shallow, plastic container.
Make the Rhubarb Syrup:
- 900g Rhubarb, super red, coarsely chopped
- 100g Rhubarb, super red, peels and trimmings (from above)
- 320g Sugar
- Water, filtered
Place the Chopped Rhubarb, Peels and Trimmings saved from making the Brunoise of Rhubarb and Sugar in a saucepan. Add a splash of Water, mix well and cover the pan.
Cook it over very low heat, giving it a mix every 5 minutes, until the Rhubarb has released a lot of its juices and becomes super soft, falling apart.
Remove from the heat and pass it through a sieve, pressing well on the Rhubarb to extract as much syrup as possible. If desired, you can blend the leftover pulp and use it as a rhubarb jam for another dish.
Finish the Pickled Rhubarb in Rhubarb Syrup:
Transfer the syrup to the same container as the Brunoise of Rhubarb. The liquid should cover the cubes of Rhubarb.
Run it in the vacuum machine, uncovered, until you can run a complete cycle without the syrup foaming away from the container. Keep it in the fridge.
For the Royale Base:
Make the Pea Pod Stock:
(You can find this recipe in our “An Ode to Peas and the Perks of Working Closely with a Farmer” post in this same journal)
Make the Royale Base:
- 750g Peas, size big and medium
- 190g Milk
- 190g Pea Pod Stock
- 155g Oil, Olive
- 8g Salt, fine
- 2g Sugar
Blanch the Peas for 5’ in a pot of Blanching Water (Water salted at 10%). Strain and transfer directly to the Thermomix.
Meanwhile, warm the Milk along with the Salt and Sugar in a pan.
Blend the Blanched Peas and Milk mixture for 10’ on speed 10 in the Thermomix until completely smooth. Add the Olive Oil and blend for 1’ more. Pass through a fine sieve and set it over a bowl of ice water to chill. The final result should have a thick cream, heavy custard-like consistency. Keep it covered with cling film touching the Base to avoid a skin from forming.
For the Pea Pod Juice:
- Peas, pods
- Salt, fine
- Pre-Hy (Water with 2% of Xantham Gum blended in)
Blanch the Pea Pods in Blanching Water for 1’30” and pass them through a juicer.
Pass the juice through a fine sieve, season with Salt and thicken it 4% of its weight in Pre-Hy.
Keep it in the fridge over ice. It should be as cold as possible without freezing.
For the Mint Granita:
- 75g + 75g Mint, bunches
- 500g Water, filtered
- 2g Salt, fine
- 40g Sugar
- Pre-Hy (above)
Divide the Mint between 2 bowls.
Coarsely chop the Mint in one bowl, then bring the Water, Salt and Sugar to the boil and pour over it. Cover with cling film and leave to infuse for 10’. Pass through a fine sieve into a pan, pressing down well.
Bring the infusion back to the boil. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the Mint on the second bowl. Pour the infusion over it and repeat the infusing process.
Pass through the sieve again, add 7% of its weight in Pre-Hy, pour into a container and freeze until completely frozen
Finish the Royale:
For the Rhubarb Layer:
- 250g Pickled Rhubarb in Rhubarb Syrup, liquid only
- 5g Gelatine, leaves
- 375g Pickled Rhubarb in Rhubarb Syrup, brunoise only
Bring the Liquid to a simmer.
Meanwhile, add the Gelatine Leaves to ice-cold water to hydrate.
Add the Gelatine Leaves to the Preserved Rhubarb Liquid and mix well to dissolve the gelatine.
Strain it through a fine sieve over a container.
Portion the jelly into individual bowls, weighting 10g per bowl and then add 15g of Brunoise of Rhubarb on top.
Place it in the fridge to set until solid.
To Finish the Royale Base:
- 1 Recipe Royale Base (above)
- 6g Gelatine, leaves
Soak the Gelatine Leaves in cold water for about 5’, until soft.
Heat 100g of the Royale Base and add the Gelatine to it. Mix well to dissolve the Gelatine. Pass it through a fine sieve over the rest of the Royale Base. Mix well.
Spoon the Royale Base over the Rhubarb Layer in the bowls, weighting 50g of Royale Base per bowl.
Cover with cling film and transfer to the fridge until completely set.
To Plate:
- 1 Bowl of Royale
- 15g Peas, small size
- 15g Peas, pods, juice (above)
- Peas, shoots
- Oil, olive
- Salt, Maldon
- Mint Granita
Blanch the Peas in Blanching Water for 5 seconds and transfer them to the Pea Pod Juice. Dress them with Maldon Salt and arrange them on the Royale. The liquid should completely cover the layer of Royale.
Scatter a few Pea Shoots over the Blanched Peas, dress them with Salt and split the liquid with Olive Oil, to create a broken-emulsion effect.
Finish by scrapping the Mint Granita with a fork and sprinkling it around the Royale. Serve.
