Instructions: 1 Shell the peas. Peel the onion and chop finely. Wash the lettuce in lots of water, and dry.

2 Fry the diced bacon and chopped onion in a pan until golden.

3 Cut the lettuce in fine strips. Put the peas in the pan, followed by the lettuce. Add a cup of water. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes.

Madame de Maintenon, in a letter to the Cardinal of Noailles in 1696, wrote: "the matter of the peas continues. For four days now, our princes talk of nothing but wanting to eat peas, how enjoyable they were, and how they want to eat more (...). Its a fashion, a mania."

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