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To Stew Peas for a Bish

A pea stew made with butter, onion, cabbage, lettuce, and ham essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 622 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Stew Peas for a Bish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peas

  1. Combine the peas, butter, onion, cabbage, lettuce, and salt in a stewpan.

  2. Cover the pan and cook over moderate heat until the peas are half done.

Finish the stew

  1. Mix flour with water to thicken the peas.

  2. Add the essence of ham.

  3. Season with Cayenne pepper and sugar if desired.

  4. Stew gently until the peas are tender, being careful not to let them burn.

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. Cabbage + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together622 recipes

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

  2. Peas + lettucetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,293 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  4. Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

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

  5. Onion + lettucetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,562 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh shelled young peas
Form the main body of the stew and provide its sweet, green flavor.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavor as the vegetables cook gently in the pan.
Flour
Thickens the cooking liquid into a soft, spoonable stew.
Cabbage
Softens during stewing and adds body and a mild, earthy flavor.
Lettuce
Wilts into the stew, adding moisture and a delicate vegetal flavor.

The step that matters

Stew gently until the peas are tender. High heat or a dry pan can scorch the butter and starches on the base of the pan, giving a burnt taste. Gentle heat with the lid managed lets the peas soften evenly while the flour-thickened liquid stays smooth.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, cabbage, lettuce, flour, ham, pepper):

  1. Chestnutfits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, cabbage, lettuce, flour, ham, pepper. 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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