Why it works: Peas and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,331 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Peas Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Soak the split peas in cold soft water for 12 hours.
Tie the soaked peas loosely in a cloth and place in a pan of cold water.
Boil the peas for 3 hours.
Turn the boiled peas out into a colander and rub through.
Make and cook the pudding
Add butter, salt, pepper, and beaten eggs to the mixture and mix well.
Return the mixture to the cloth.
Place the cloth with the mixture in boiling water for 30 minutes.
Serve
Turn out the mixture and serve hot with melted butter.
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.
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Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Peas + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,065 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Split peas
- Form the bulk of the pudding and set into a firm, spoonable body when cooked and rubbed.
- Eggs
- Bind the rubbed peas together so the pudding holds its shape when turned out.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, moist texture to the pudding.
The step that matters
Rubbing the boiled peas through the colander. Pushing the soft peas through removes skins and lumps, giving a smooth texture. Leftover lumps or skins make the final pudding coarse and uneven.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, egg):
- Walnutfits about as well
- Almondfits about as well
- Peasthe original
- Pecansfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, egg. 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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