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Goutte Housekeeping
a column on medieval cookery

Perre (Mashed Peas)

Wulfric of Creigull

Another Jingles dish. This was part of the third remove and was playfully referred to as "green stuff". I think this is another excellent vegetarian dish that is easy to make in large quantities. For a slight increase in flavor, boil the peas in vegetarian chicken broth.

Perre (Mashed Peas)

Take grene pesyn, and boile hem in a potte; And whan they ben ybroke, drawe the broth a good quantite throgh a streynour into a potte, And sitte hit on the fire; and take oynons and parcelly, and hewe hem small togidre, And caste hem thereto; And take pouder of Canell and peper, and caste thereto, and lete boile; And take vynegur and pouder of ginger, and caste thereto; And then take Saffron and salte, a litull quantite, and caste thereto; And take faire peces of paynmain, or elles of such tendur brede, and kutte hit yn fere mosselles, and caste there to; And then serue hit so forth. (Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books)

Simmer peas in water for 40 minutes. Mash peas and broth through strainer. Add chopped onions, parsley, cinnamon, pepper. Boil for ten minutes. Add vinegar, ginger, salt, saffron. Chop up bread and put in. Boil briefly and serve.

I used frozen peas. I have tried shelling my own and found that frozen peas are much less frustrating and taste exactly the same. If using frozen, boil for fifteen minutes only. The mashing can be done in a food processor if doing in large quantities, unless you’re masochistic and have too much time on your hands. In that case, buy the ugly large pea pods as they seem to have the best quantity of peas.

Sources: Hieatt, Constance B. An Ordinance of Pottage. Prospect Books, 1988.

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