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Split-peas Pudding

A thick pudding made from soaked split peas, butter, salt, pepper, and optional eggs, boiled and served with melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,331 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Split-peas Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the split peas in water overnight.

  2. Drain the peas and place them in a loose cloth.

Make the pudding

  1. Boil the peas for 4 hours or until tender.

  2. Rub the cooked peas through a colander until smooth.

  3. Mix in the butter and salt.

  4. For a richer pudding, add the beaten eggs along with the butter.

  5. Tie the mixture tightly in the cloth and boil for 1 hour.

Serve

  1. Serve with melted butter poured over it.

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. Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,331 recipes

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

  2. Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,887 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Peas + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Yellow split peas
Form the bulk of the pudding; their starch thickens and sets into a soft mass when cooked and mashed.
Butter
Adds fat for richness, smooth mouthfeel and flavour.
Eggs
Bind the pudding and help it set when cooked, adding richness.

The step that matters

Boil the peas until fully tender. Split peas need a long, full cook to soften their starch. Undercooked peas stay firm and grainy, so they will not rub through the colander into a smooth purée.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, egg):

  1. Walnutfits about as well
  2. Almondfits about as well
  3. Peasthe original
  4. Pecansfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, egg. 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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