The pea plant is native to Asia and, in particular, is Indian: it therefore arrived in the Old Continent during the seventeenth century, thanks to the Arians. At present, around the world, as many as 250 different varieties of this legume are cultivated, each of which differs in colour, with peas being mainly green, then yellow in tone and, finally, white. These legumes were already widespread within Greek and Roman societies, although the maximum period of splendor, which decreed their important success, coincided with the reign of Louis XIV.