Name: Green Peas
Ingredients: 2 cups green peas, shelled; 2 pieces lump sugar; 1 sprig fresh mint; Coarse sea salt (to taste)

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

2 cups green peas, shelled
2 pieces lump sugar
1 sprig fresh mint
Coarse sea salt (to taste)

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Add the shelled peas and cook until tender.
Remove from heat, drain the peas, and serve with sugar and mint.

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.

Peas + minttop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,137 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Peas + sugartop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,928 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + minttop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,592 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

Green peas: Main ingredient that becomes tender and sweet when cooked through in boiling water.
Lump sugar: Adds sweetness to balance the mild, vegetal flavour of the peas.
Fresh mint: Adds a cool, aromatic note that brightens the cooked peas.