A question of chickpeas

Ah, the humble chickpea.  It has an interesting name - nothing to do with 'chicks' really.  The latin name (and the Roman's were great eaters of them) is Cicer arietinum.  The Roman poet Cicero was indeed named after them (the story goes that an ancestor had a wart on his face that looked like a chick pea and the nick-name was passed down through the generations).  Cicer became chiche in French which became corrupted to Chick in English.

Chickpeas have been cultivated and eaten for at least 5000 years and are found in the cooking of southern Europe, North Africa, West Asia and India.  One of my favourite dishes is the Spanish dish of chickpeas, spinach and saffron.

But - and here's the question about chickpeas - do you buy dried or canned peas?
I find that my cookbooks split pretty well down the middle.  On the one hand there is the River Cafe School (which includes the likes of Sam & Sam Clarke of Moro) who claim you have to use dried peas, soaked overnight and boiled for an age.  On the other hand, there is the Nigel Slater School (where I find myself), claiming canned are as good as anything.

Personally, I can't really tell the difference between dried and canned chickpeas - so long as the canned version are well rinsed of that suspiciously gloopy 'water' they come in!  Well - actually, I can tell, because whenever I buy dried peas and use them, I end-up boiling them dry and burning them...

I'd be interested to hear whether you use dried or canned chickpeas - or indeed any other 'convenience' foods that some of the cookery writers may look down upon...

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