Snow pea, ribbon-flat and grass-green, is also called Chinese snow pea (and “sno-pea,” a marketing term in the “lite” genre) but it has nothing to do with snow and didn’t originate in China—where it is called hoh laan dau (or he lan do), meaning Holland pea. Grown as early as 1536 by the horticulturally hyperactive Dutch (who have a tradition of spectacular vegetables), the “Holland pea” has a name that indicates its primary center of cultivation and refinement, as does its introduction into France by its ambassador to Holland around 1600.
