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 at home.
Sort the peas by age: older ones need 10 minutes of boiling, middle-aged ones need 5 minutes, and younger ones can be added later.
Cook and serve
Boil the peas in a pot of water with salt for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on their size.
Strain the peas through a colander.
Serve in a deep dish with butter pieces on top.
If desired, boil fresh mint leaves in a separate saucepan and serve as a garnish.
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.
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Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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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
- Provide the main body and sweet, vegetal flavor of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel as it melts over the hot peas.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the peas are flavored throughout.
The step that matters
Sort the peas by age. Older peas are starchier and need longer boiling, while younger peas turn soft quickly. Sorting them lets each batch finish evenly, so some are not mushy while others are still tough.
“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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