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To Stew Green Peas

A simple stew of green peas, cabbage lettuce, onion, mint, sugar, and butter thickened with a flour paste.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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To Stew Green Peas

Why it works: Mint and peas 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 Stew Green Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stew

  1. In a pot, combine chopped cabbage lettuce, onion, green mint, sugar, salt, pepper, and green peas.

  2. Add weak broth and bring to a simmer.

  3. Cook until the peas are tender.

Thicken and finish

  1. In a small bowl, mix butter and flour to form a paste.

  2. Stir the paste into the pot to thicken the stew.

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. Mint + peastop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

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

  2. Cabbage + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together622 recipes

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

  3. Lettuce + peastop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,293 recipes

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

  4. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 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
Provide the main body and sweetness of the stew as they soften during cooking.
Cabbage lettuce
Adds tender leafy bulk and moisture that breaks down into the stew.
Onion
Adds savory aroma and depth as it softens in the pot.
Butter and flour paste
Thickens the stew's liquid, giving it a smoother, richer body.

The step that matters

Stirring the butter and flour paste into the pot. Flour thickens only when it is dispersed and heated in liquid. Lumps form if the paste is added without being fully blended, and the butter-flour mix must be stirred through the simmering stew so it hydrates evenly and thickens smoothly.

Swap the mint

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

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, lettuce, onion, sugar, pepper, peas, 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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