With meat and cheese only available in small quantities due to rationing during WW2, it was no wonder that a popular English dish during the medieval times, made it back into wartime cookbooks in the 1940s. Pease Pudding was cheap, packed with protein, and 1 lb of split peas only used up 2 points of your points allowance during rationing.
Originally, Pease Pudding was often made at the beginning of the week and eaten over successive days, hence the old rhyme:
Pease pudding hot! Pease pudding cold! Pease pudding in the pot, Nine day’s old!
Pease Porridge or Pease Pottage (see below) as it was first commonly know as, was traditionally made with dried split yellow peas, cooked in a pot over the fire with salted water, spices and occasionally meat.
I looked at the nutritional value of the Pease Pudding I created and for all 200 g of dried yellow split peas, calories are in the region of 650 kcal, protein is around 50 grams, fibre 15 g, carbohydrates 120 g and the dish contains 85% of your daily recommended iron.
Pease Pottage, Porridge, Pudding
Pottage is a catch all term which meant anything cooked in a pot. In the medieval period cereals were added to the cooking stock from cooking meat.
Pease pottage was eaten at all levels of society in England. And then during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the invention of the pudding cloth revolutionised food for all and made a watery soups into a solid pudding.
Pease pudding gradually died out in the eighteenth century. Once meat became cheaper England’s once national dish became an occasional menu item.
Paul Couchman at The Regency Cook
Here is the basic foundation recipe and I used the alternative method and not the traditional method of cooking as I had no muslin cloth (or string!). You can also use dried green split peas if you haven’t got yellow ones! It’s a really economical recipe as here in the United kingdom, yellow split peas sell for around £2 per kg/2.2 lb. This means that the peas in this recipe cost me 40p!
Pease Pudding
Ingredients
- 200g yellow split peas, soaked for 3+ hours (preferably overnight) in plenty of water
- 750ml water
- 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder (or 1 vegetable stock cube)
Traditional Method vs Alternative Method
- Drain and rinse the soaked split peas.
- Place the soaked peas into a muslin pudding cloth and tie with string.
- Place this into a large pot of boiling water (with bouillon/stock added) and bring to a fast simmer.
- Cover and lower the temperature to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer for 90 minutes or until the peas are tender.
- Remove peas in bag and drain and leave in bag until cool enough to handle.
- Remove peas from bag/cloth into a bowl and mix up with salt and pepper.
- Place back into muslin cloth, tie again and repeat the above for another 30-60 minutes.
- Once cooked drain and place the mixture in a bowl and mash with extra salt and pepper and butter if available
- Serve spread on bread or toast with extras on top
or alternative…
- Drain and rinse the soaked split peas.
- Add to a saucepan and add the water.
- Bring to a fast simmer.
- Skim off any white foamy scum when needed.
- Stir in the bouillon powder or stock cube.
- Cover and lower the temperature to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer for 90-120 minutes or until the peas are tender.
- Stir and mash until fairly smooth adding some butter if you like.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Serve spread on bread or toast with extras on top
I was inspired by Jayelle to make this traditional dish after seeing their below post on The 1940s Experiment Facebook Group – I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recreated this before!
Here are some photos of the process…
Hi, I’m wondering if you can use the pressure cooker for this recipe?
Hi Babs, I think that would be a great idea! I wish I could offer more advice but I have never used one!!! Xxx C
Yes, a pressure cooker is perfect.
Ingredients
350g of Split Peas
1 Large Potato, peeled and cubed
Bacon or Ham stock (ham hock or ribs are best)
pinch of salt & pepper
Method
1. Wash the Split Peas.
2. Place all the ingredients into the pressure cooker, seal the cooker and bring to pressure over high heat, stabilize the pressure and cook for 9 minutes then take off the heat and set aside to cool naturally.
3. Open the cooker and remove the bones then mash the peas till smooth. *optional beat in butter and adjust the seasonings to taste.
4. Turn the mixture into a greased pudding bowl and cover with a pleated sheet of greaseproof (waxed) paper and then a double layer of foil tied securely in place.
5. Wash the pressure cooker well then place a trivet in the base, stand the pudding on the trivet then pour in enough water to come 1/4 of the way up the pudding, secure and seal the lid, bring to pressure over high heat then stabilize the pressure and cook for 7 minutes.
6. Take off the heat and allow the pressure to reduce naturally.
7. Remove the pudding from the cooker, take off the wrappings then turn the pudding out onto a warmed plate and serve.
Hot or cold it’s delicious.
Yes Babs, you can certainly use a pressure cooker for doing yellow split peas. It’s a popular way of cooking the larger-type dals (chana etc) which aren’t that dissimilar.
WISH WE COULD SHARE THESE ON FACEBOOK.
Hi Kenn, I believe there is a share button somewhere. I’ll take a proper look on my desktop computer tomorrow. I’m currently typing on my phone xxx C
Hi again Kenn, yes there is a Facebook share button underneath the article so you should be able to share. If you need help with anything please let me know and thanks for popping on to the blog to read this post. C xxx
My man was a Geordie and his ma taught me to made what she called “proper pease pudding”, the old fashioned way. Therefore Iv’e never made my pease pudding in a pan, it’s traditionally cooked in a cloot (cloth) or these days I cook it overnight in the slow cooker – it saves fuel. Also ma always made her pudding very smooth and she also beat in butter before serving with savaloys or ham and stottie cakes, with sage and onion stuffing too. Try ma’s authentic recipe.
Ingredients
350g of Split Peas
1 Large Potato, peeled and cubed
Bacon or Ham stock (or a ham hock)
pinch of salt & pepper
2 Methods – (old and modern)
1. Wash the Split Peas.
2. Old method : put the peas, potatoes, salt & pepper into a pudding Cloth ( this can be a square (approx. 30-40cm) of Calico or Muslin or even an old Linen Tea towel), tie the mixture up tightly (just like a pudding) with some twine or string around the “neck”, squeezing any excess air or volume from around the peas pudding mixture. Pour the Stock into a saucepan and bring nearly to the boil. Immerse the pudding in the stock and simmer for 2 hours. When cooked, remove the pudding from the stock and place in a bowl. Untie or un-clip the twine from around the neck of the pudding(remove cloth and twine). Add just a little of the cooking stock to the bowl and lightly mash the entire mixture together.
or
2. Modern method : put the peas, potatoes, stock, salt & pepper into a heat proof dish in a bain-marie then the slow cooker and cook till tender – or over night. Add just a little of the cooking stock to the bowl and lightly mash the entire mixture together. Add just a little of the cooking stock to the bowl and lightly mash the entire mixture together.
3. Serve Hot like this, or store covered in the refrigerator until desired.
Thanks so much for sharing this!!! Absolutely love hearing how other people used to do recipes!!! Xxxx
It’s not much different from dhal recipes from the Indian regions, they vary, but lentils and other pulses are used. Just add spices and fried onions for a taste sensation then it’s up to you to add the meat or veg of your choice. Always nice with a wee handful of chopped green coriander and a squeeze of lime juice – yummy !
I loved that nursery rhyme as a child. We had a hand clap we did with a partner to the rhyme.
Iʻve never had pease porridge, but I cook green split peas pretty often. So I will definitely be making this! Thank you for the recipe.
You are welcome! I do remember singing this in the playground too when I was really little! I wonder what songs kids sing now and if they do clap songs! C xxxx
I never realized that pease pudding is made from yellow split peas! Easy to make, cheap and nutritious – sounds like a perfect dish! Imagine how much slimmer and healthier people would be if man had continued eating grains and legumes instead of transitioning over to eating meat-based dishes.
It’s so economical and I found it really tasty! I’ll have the rest for lunch today xxx C
I love Pease Pudding! I eat it quite often, although I freely admit that I don’t cook it myself. I buy it ready made in tins made by Foresight foods (Princes). I used to buy it in Tescos then they stopped selling which has left me miffed because I now have to do a long walk to ASDA where they sell the half sized tins of it.
If you have a Sainsbury’s they have it also.
Indeed they do David, but the problem is, not all supermarkets stock everything in all stores.
It’s very irritating with something you’ve bought from your local Tesco or Sainsburys for years, only for them to suddenly cease selling it, yet you know that in the same supermarket in the next town, they still do.
I make it myself but I did used to buy it from tesco from cooked meat section.It was very nice too.Better than the tinned or the tubs of pease pudding.I don’t know why they stopped selling it.
Carolyn, hello from ACL, long time ago. I have noticed that Ambrose Heath appears quite often in the Government leaflets so I wondered if you had this link to the Ambrose Heath book, Good Food, on the Internet Archive? Here it is, hope it’s of interest. All the best. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.221451