Why it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick, shell, and wash the peas.
Boil water in a pot and add salt.
Cook
Add the peas to the boiling water and cook until tender.
Optionally, add a sprig of mint or pea shells while boiling.
Drain the peas, reserving a little of the cooking liquid.
Finish
Toss the peas with butter and pepper.
If desired, add sugar if the peas have been stored for over 12 hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Pepper + minttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,372 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh green peas
- Provide the main body and sweet, vegetal flavour of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the peas and carrying flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness, useful for peas that have been stored and lost some sugar.
The step that matters
Cook until tender and drain promptly. Peas go from tender to mushy within minutes of boiling. Overcooking breaks down their starch and cell walls, so they turn soft and dull in colour. Testing early and draining as soon as they are tender keeps their texture and bright green colour.
Swap the mint
The recipe marks mint as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, butter, pepper, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Mintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, pepper, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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