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Pur&E of Dried Peas

A slow‑cooked stew of dried peas, salt pork, and molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,589 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pur&E of Dried Peas

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the peas

  1. Pick over and wash the peas.

  2. Soak the peas in water overnight.

  3. Skim the peas out of the water and place them in a kettle.

  4. Cover the peas with hot water and bring to a boil.

Bake

  1. Transfer the peas to a bean pot.

  2. Cut the salt pork into strips and lay on top of the peas.

  3. Add the molasses and cover with hot water.

  4. Cover the pot and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) all day.

  5. If the water dries off, add more to keep the peas covered.

  6. Let the pot stand in the oven overnight to keep warm.

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 + porktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,589 recipes

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

  2. Pork + molassestop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together825 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Peas + molassestop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together81 recipes

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried green peas
Form the main body of the stew, softening into a thick, tender base during long cooking.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor that seasons the peas as it renders slowly in the oven.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and deep color to the stew's flavor during slow baking.

The step that matters

Keep the peas covered with water. Dried peas need steady liquid to soften evenly. If the surface is exposed and dries out, the peas can toughen or scorch, so topping up the hot water during baking matters.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, molasses):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Peanutfits better
  3. Sesamefits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, molasses. 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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