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To Keep Geeen Peas

A method for preserving green peas by drying, sealing with suet, and rehydrating before cooking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

To Keep Geeen Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peas

  1. Shell the green peas and add them to boiling water for 2–3 minutes.

  2. Drain the peas in a colander and spread them on a cloth to dry.

Preserve

  1. Bottle the dried peas in wide‑mouthed bottles, covering them with 1 inch of clarified mutton suet.

  2. Seal the bottles and store them in a cool place.

Cook and serve

  1. When ready to use, soak the peas in water for 1 hour.

  2. Boil the peas in cold water with a bit of butter until tender, adding a sprig of dried mint.

  3. Serve with chopped scalded mint and a piece of butter.

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 + minttop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Peas + muttontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together598 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,781 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Green peas
The main ingredient; they soften into the dish when boiled until tender.
Clarified mutton suet
Covers the dried peas in the bottles, forming a fat seal that keeps them from contact with air.
Butter
Adds richness and fat to the cooked peas for a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Drying the peas before bottling. Any water left on the peas can dilute the fat seal and encourage spoilage in storage, so they should be dried thoroughly before they are covered with suet.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, mutton, butter, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Mintthe original
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Pepperfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, mutton, butter, sugar. 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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