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Puree of Peas

A thick soup made from split peas, pork, and onion, thickened with flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,214 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Puree of Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peas

  1. Soak the split peas in 1 gallon of water overnight.

  2. Drain the soaked peas.

Cook

  1. Add 1 gallon of fresh water, the shank bone, pork, and chopped onion to the pot.

  2. Boil slowly for four hours.

  3. Strain the mixture.

  4. Return the strained mixture to the stove.

  5. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Thicken and season

  1. Add a thickening made from 2 tablespoons of flour.

  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  3. Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 recipes

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

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

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Split peas
Form the body of the puree, breaking down into a thick, smooth base as they cook.
Flour
Thickens the strained liquid so the puree holds a heavier, more coating consistency.
Pork
Adds savory, meaty flavor to the cooking liquid.
Shank bone
Releases flavor and gelatin into the cooking liquid during the long simmer.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the base.

The step that matters

Boil slowly for four hours. A gentle simmer lets the peas soften fully and release starch and flavor without scorching on the bottom. A hard boil can burn the pot and leave the strained puree uneven.

Swap the peas

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

  1. Black-eyed peafits better
  2. Sesamefits better
  3. Beansfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, flour, 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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