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To Stew Green Peas

A simple stew of green peas, lettuce, onion, butter, pepper, and sea salt, simmered in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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To Stew Green Peas

Why it works: Peas and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,293 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

To Stew Green Peas

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine peas, sliced lettuce, and sliced onion in a pot.

  2. Add butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

  3. Pour in just enough water to cover the vegetables.

  4. Cook over medium heat until the peas are tender.

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.

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.

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

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

  2. Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,562 recipes

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

  3. Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,037 recipes

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

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 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

Green peas
Form the main body of the dish and provide most of its tender texture when cooked.
Lettuce
Releases moisture as it cooks, adding body and a soft, mellow vegetable flavor to the stew.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth as it softens in the cooking liquid.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Pour in just enough water to cover the vegetables. Too much water dilutes the flavor of the stew and makes it watery, while too little can scorch the vegetables before the peas become tender. Measuring the liquid to just cover keeps the stew concentrated and evenly cooked.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, onion, butter, pepper):

  1. Sesamefits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Black-eyed peafits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, onion, butter, pepper. 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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