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Pease Pudding

A savory pudding made from split peas, butter, pepper, and salt, boiled and served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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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 ↓

Pease Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the split peas overnight in rainwater, discarding any that are worm‑eaten or discolored.

  2. Tie the peas loosely in a clean cloth, leaving room for them to swell.

Cook the peas

  1. Boil in cold rainwater for 2½ hours after the water simmers.

  2. Drain the peas.

  3. Rub them through a colander with a wooden spoon.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the butter, pepper, and salt, and beat well for a few minutes until fully incorporated.

  2. Tie the mixture tightly in a floured cloth.

  3. Boil for another hour.

  4. Turn the pudding onto a dish.

  5. Serve very hot.

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.

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 + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,331 recipes

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

  2. Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,887 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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, setting into a thick, spoonable body as they cook and break down.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, silkier texture in the mashed peas.

The step that matters

Tying the peas loosely in the cloth. Dried peas absorb water and swell considerably while they cook. A loose tie leaves room for this expansion; a tight tie can restrict swelling or burst the cloth.

Swap the peas

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

  1. Walnutfits better
  2. Black-eyed peafits better
  3. Almondfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against 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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