Why it works: Peas and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,887 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
How to Cook Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Place several outer leaves of a head of salad in the bottom of a saucepan.
Add the green peas and 2 ounces of butter.
Cook
Cover the pan tightly and place it over the fire.
Cook for 30 minutes until ready to serve.
Season in the pan or remove peas to season separately.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 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
- Green peas
- The main vegetable; they cook until tender in their own moisture and the butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps coat the peas as they cook.
- Head salad leaves
- Lining the pan keeps the peas off the direct base and adds moisture as they cook.
The step that matters
Cover the pan tightly and cook for 30 minutes. The tight lid traps steam so the peas cook gently in their own moisture and the butter. A loose lid lets steam escape, which can leave the peas dry or unevenly cooked.
“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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