Instructions: Take English peas in the hull. Allow about a pound per person. Combine them in a skillet or wok with about an inch of water. Add a little butter (about a tablespoon per person) and bring everything to a rapid boil over high heat.

Keep everything moving by shaking the pan and stirring and cook until the pods are just softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt and serve.

Pick up a pod by the stem, stick the whole thing in your mouth and pull it between your teeth. Out pop the peas, and you get a bit of the green from the outside of the pod as well.

Its kind of a British take on edamame-the Japanese soy bean treat-and it is incredibly delicious in a wonderfully atavistic way (Thompson says it should be served only among family and close friends).

Notes: Sylvia says she learned how to cook snap peas from a Jane Grigson book.

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