Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Pease Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Tie the peas loosely in a cloth and boil in water until tender.
Rub the peas through a colander or sieve.
Make and set the pudding
Mix the pea pulp with butter, cream, eggs, white pepper, and salt until uniform.
Tie the mixture tightly in a cloth and boil for 30 minutes to set.
Turn out the pudding and serve.
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.
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Egg + white peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,312 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
-
Peas + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 main body of the pudding once cooked and pureed into a thick pulp.
- Eggs
- Bind the pea pulp so it holds its shape when boiled and set.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smoother, silkier texture to the pulp.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the texture of the pudding.
The step that matters
Tie the mixture tightly in a cloth and boil for 30 minutes to set. The cloth must be tight so the pudding keeps a firm, compact shape while it cooks. A loose wrap lets the mixture spread and cook unevenly, and the eggs need steady heat to set the pulp properly.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, butter, cream, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, cream, 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Green Peas229 recipes
Green Peas Soup35 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes