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Stewed Teas

A stew of young peas cooked with butter, cabbage, green onions, parsley, sugar, and salt.

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 ↓

Stewed Teas

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the peas

  1. Put the peas in a pan with butter and enough cold water to cover them.

  2. Rub the peas and butter together with your fingers until well mixed.

  3. Pour off the water.

Stew

  1. Add the peas to a saucepan with shredded lettuces, green onions, parsley, sugar, and salt.

  2. Cover and stew gently over low heat for about 30 minutes.

  3. If there is too much liquid, boil it down quickly.

Thicken and serve

  1. Knead the fresh butter and flour together.

  2. Add the kneaded butter and flour to the peas.

  3. Toss everything together over the heat until well mixed.

  4. Dish the peas.

  5. Garnish with flourishes before serving.

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. Lettuce + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,483 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

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

  5. Lettuce + oniontop 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

Young peas
Form the main body of the dish and provide its sweet, fresh flavour.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the peas.
Cabbage lettuces
Soften during stewing and add moisture and a mild, tender texture.
Flour
Kneaded with butter, it thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce.

The step that matters

Boiling down excess liquid. Too much liquid thins the sauce and dilutes the flavour. Boiling it down quickly concentrates the juices, and the kneaded butter and flour then thicken them properly. Keep the heat brisk but watch the peas so they do not scorch.

Swap the peas

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cabbage, lettuce, onion, parsley, sugar, flour. 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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