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Peas Boast

A baked loaf made from split peas, onion, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Peas Boast

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the peas

  1. Boil the dried green split peas in water until mushy, adding the whole peeled onion to the pot for flavoring.

  2. If the water boils away before the peas are done, add more water.

  3. Once cooked, remove the onion and mash the peas through a sieve.

Bake and serve

  1. Add salt to taste and the beaten eggs, then stir well.

  2. Pour the mixture into an oiled small deep bread tin.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.

  4. Turn the loaf out onto a platter and pour tomato or mushroom sauce over it.

  5. Garnish with parsley or mint.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Peas + tomatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Peas + parsleytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,885 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried green split peas
Form the bulk of the loaf, softening into a mash that holds its shape when set.
Eggs
Bind the mashed peas and set during baking so the loaf holds together.

The step that matters

Mashing the peas smooth after cooking. Peas must be cooked until fully soft and then pressed through a sieve; lumps or dry, undercooked pieces prevent an even, cohesive texture once the egg sets in the oven.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, egg, tomato, parsley):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, egg, tomato, parsley. 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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