Peas are one of the few vegetables that are almost

always better frozen than fresh. Why is that? Peas
start losing flavor and sweetness the minute their
pods are picked off the vine. There’s a noticeable
difference in the texture and flavor of a pea that’s
been off the vine for even as little as six hours or so
and one that’s just-picked. This means that when you
see “fresh” peas at a supermarket or even at most
farmers’ markets, they are likely to have been off
the vine for several days, slowly becoming less sweet
and more starchy. Frozen peas, on the other hand,
are individually frozen very soon after they are
picked, ensuring that their sugars and creamy
texture are intact. Small, spherical peas are also the
absolute ideal shape for rapid freezing and thawing,
which helps them to maintain good texture
throughout the process by minimizing the stress on
the cells that can be caused by large-ice-crystal
formation during slow freezes. Unless you have an
extremely reputable farmer you’re buying your peas
from in the spring, stick to the frozen version.