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
Shell the peas.
In a saucepan, bring enough boiling water to cover the peas.
Add salt and sugar to the water.
Boil the peas quickly without covering the saucepan.
Once done, drain the peas in a colander.
Transfer the peas to a hot serving dish.
Top with small pieces of butter and serve.
For added flavor, include mint in the boiling water.
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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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + minttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,559 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Peas + sugartop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,928 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh green peas
- The main vegetable, providing the bulk and body of the dish.
- Moist sugar
- Adds gentle sweetness that rounds out the flavor of the peas.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, fatty mouthfeel as it melts over the hot peas.
The step that matters
Boil the peas quickly without covering the saucepan. Boiling uncovered lets volatile acids escape, which helps the peas keep a bright green color. Covering the pan traps those acids, dulling the green. Boiling quickly also shortens cooking time, reducing the risk of overcooked, mushy peas.
Swap the mint
The recipe marks mint as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, sugar, butter):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Mintthe original
- Gingerfits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, sugar, butter. 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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