I really hadn't thought that much about peas before - they were always just there. How could you eat roast lamb and mint sauce without peas? Pea and ham soup is a favourite winter comfort food and I refuse point blank to eat fish and chips without mushy peas, which make a wonderful "sauce" for an otherwise rather dry meal. One pub I went to tried to serve fish and chips with carrots, broccoli and cabbage - much as I love those vegetables, to serve them with fish and chips was just plain wrong! ;)

"Who else puts chips (french fries) on bread?"

The Belgians certainly do! (and they invented chips, or so they claim) Any frite stand in Brussels will serve you a "mitraillette", i.e. a baguette sandwich with chips.

I also have to say that I'd much rather eat a chip butty than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... :-&

Can anyone tell me why bacon in the US is always incinerated to a solid mass

AlanR - to disguise the "Flavor"? i.e. applying the same principle as used wih beer which is served so cold becuase it has no flavour?

Where would pea pie and 'pud (spud) be without the peas? Nothing like a legume or three (or 99+1/2). A slice of beetroot on top of the pie is good too! No-one does it like the Brits!

I'm intrigued by the comments about all the sandwiches having corn in them. With the exception of the vile tinned tuna/mayonnaise/sweetcorn combo I cannot think of any other sandwich that has corn in it. Am I missing some whole new level of strange sandwiches?
Chip butties on the other hand are the food of Gods...yummy!

Chip butties (not French fry sandwiches, please) evoke childhood memories. Soft white buttered bread, freshly home made piping hot chips, salt and vinegar to taste and maybe an optional splash of ketchup or brown sauce to taste. The melting butter dripping down your chin and all over your fingers...

I haven't had one for years and I'm making myself hungry now!

AlanRow, I don't like crisp bacon either. Most here seem to, however.

I keep planning to get a bacon buttie when I visit the UK but I either forget or just never see them anywhere.

One thing that everyone has missed is that peas are about the only green vegetable that children will willingly eat. Which partially explains their popularity.

What's the difference between a brussel sprout and a bogie? Kids won't eat brussel sprouts.

One of my kids complains about peas now and then too, but I never gave it much thought, especially as I do add them to my Shepherd's Pie. I'll never let him onto Fodors now (what a shame!) Way too much ammunition!!!

I don't see what is wrong with carbs plus carbs, if it all adds up to a normal sort of carb ration in the end.

After all, we all know we need to eat veggies with our meals, but we don't restrict ourselves to just one type of veg. Or a salad isn't just one type of leaf?

"ammunition" - those were the dried (yet to be soaked and cooked) peas, beloved of young boys with pea-shooters or catapults. You see, peas really are so versatile ;)

so many great tips for my son on this forum! :)

"I believe it is peas in our time" Neville Chamberlain

Pease pudding hot, Pease pudding cold,
Pease pudding in the pot - nine days old.
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot - nine days old.

Pease pudding & Saveloy in a bun - yum

ooh yeah pease pudding and saveloy in a bun with stuffing and mustard too! Mmmm

Oh and here is a concoction for you (i have to say its a midlands thing) mushy peas with mint sauce!!! They eat it in the midlands as an actual snack, not just as a side dish!!

As for sweetcorn with tuna, yeah tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches are among my favourits sarnies, along with chicken mayo and sweetcorn!

What's with all this ire against peas?!? They are a great versatile veg which can be used in salads when young and fresh or as a veg dish - try with some bacon or ham and lettuce or cabbage fried in olive oil - mmmm.

Thinking about it I don't recall seeing them oftem in the US or Canada - maybe corn is their equivalent which continental European farmers often grow only as animal fodder.

And back off on the UK starch thing. I well remember the a restaurant in BC where you got potatoes, rice and garlic bread. If that isn't carb overload I don't know what is!

I love peas too. Am I the only one thinking that 99 doesn't actually sound like a lot ? (Assuming we are almost certainly talking frozen peas - fresh would go further I think.) Oh dear, now I'm going to have to count the next portion I have :-)

>>>>>
Can anyone tell me why bacon in the US is always incinerated to a solid mass
>>>>>

because in the uk the bacon is cut from the back and has more areas of lower fat. in the us they use thin, fatty belly pork. in the uk, we also incinerate crackle (also a fatty belly cut) to make it crispy...we just don't call it bacon.

i have never understood this obsessive rivelry over different styles of bacon (in fact, very different food items that share a common name)....from the belly or from the back...both different cuts with their own charms.

as for the cooking, we also tend to overcook rashers which results in a tough, dry, tasteless leather.