Why it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Shell the peas just before cooking.
Boil 1 quart of water for young peas or 2 quarts for old peas.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water and skim it.
Cook and serve
Add the peas and boil for 15 to 20 minutes, tasting to check doneness.
Do not mix young and old peas.
Drain the peas in a colander and place them in a warm serving dish.
Add a few bits of butter among the peas.
Optionally, serve with sprigs of mint or melted butter on the side.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + minttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,559 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh green peas
- Form the dish itself, so their age and freshness determine cooking time and texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky coating to the warm peas.
The step that matters
Matching the water to the age of the peas. Young and old peas need different amounts of water and different cooking times, and mixing them means some peas end up overcooked while others remain firm. Tasting during cooking shows when each batch is done.
“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.
More green peas recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe 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.