Chef Jamie Simpson of the Culinary Vegetable Institute appreciates how the Verde pea tendril has less leaf with its tendrils winding together in unpredictable ways. “When, for example, I make a salad,” he says, “I want the tendrils to cling together and hold onto other salad ingredients—and let’s face it. Verde pea tendrils bend where they want to bend and hang onto whatever they want.”
Here are three ways to use and plate this amazing tendril.
Bar and Bar Snack: Cured Beef with Peas and Carrots
Verde pea tendrils make a great bar presentation. You can use them in bar snacks or play into today’s trending sweet pea cocktails and Bloody Mary’s—and here, we blend a beef tartare with peas and carrots and serve the dish with laminated potato chips.
Pasta Presentation: Wilted Pea Tendril
A wilted pea tendril jives beautifully with hot noodles or dumplings, so Chef Jamie trimmed the pea tendrils and used the trim in a ramp leaf and spinach pesto. The mid-section of tendril is sautéed with the spinach and the tips are used for garnish. Simple and elegant!
Plated Banquet: Chilled Pea Soup
Sometimes less is more. For Chef Jamie, it depends on the audience, the weather, the season, the plate, the ingredient—even the color on the wall. Each of these factors contributes to an overall dining experience and influences the culinary approach he takes. With chilled pea soup, an aggressively seasoned paste of strained solids clearly highlights the Verde pea tendril.
More About Verde Pea Tendrils
Verde pea tendrils offer up incredibly sweet true pea flavor with eye-catching green hues that represent spring and summer and an engagingly fresh scent. You can celebrate the entire plant from stem to leaf to tendril, adding unexpected layers of deliciousness and serving as a wonderful complement to a wide range of dishes.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of our “Plating Technique” series! Stay tuned for more.