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Split-peas Pudding

A thick pudding made from soaked split peas, butter, salt, pepper, and optional eggs, served with melted butter and parsnip garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsnip are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,109 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Split-peas Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peas

  1. Soak the split peas in water overnight.

  2. Drain the peas and place them in a loose cloth to allow swelling.

Cook and shape

  1. Boil the peas for 4 hours or until tender.

  2. Rub the cooked peas through a colander until smooth.

  3. Mix in the butter and salt thoroughly.

  4. For a richer pudding, add the beaten eggs with the butter.

  5. Tie the mixture tightly in the cloth and boil for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve with melted butter poured over the pudding and garnish with parsnips.

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. Pepper + parsniptop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,109 recipes

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

  2. Peas + parsniptop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together152 recipes

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

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

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

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

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

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Yellow split peas
Form the bulk of the pudding and set into a firm, spoonable texture when cooked and pressed.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the mashed peas.
Eggs
Optional; bind the mixture and help it set more firmly when boiled.

The step that matters

Tie the mixture tightly in the cloth. If the cloth is loose, the pudding can break apart or absorb too much water during boiling. A snug wrap keeps it compact and holds its shape.

Swap the parsnip

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Parsnipthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, butter, pepper, egg. 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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