Pea

The pea is one of humanity's oldest companions in the garden, with charred remains found at Neolithic sites in the Near East dating back some ten thousand years. Long before it was a supermarket staple, dried peas were a winter staple across Europe and Asia, ground into flour or simmered into thick, warming pottages that carried families through the cold months. In old European folk practice, a tea made from the discarded pods, rather than the peas themselves, was traditionally sipped to help move fluid through the body and ease the swelling of tired, aching joints. Herbalists and grandmothers alike also reached for simple pea broth as a gentle, easy-to-digest food for the sick and the recovering, believing it restored strength without taxing the stomach.