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A period dish

Pease Pottage

A thick, slow-simmered pottage of dried peas with bacon and herbs — the daily dish of rich and poor alike.

Serves 8

Pottage was the foundation of the European diet for centuries: a single pot of peas or beans simmered with whatever meat and herbs the household could spare. Pease pottage was the most common of all, eaten with bread and thick enough to stand a spoon in.

Ingredients

Produce

  • 1 onion
  • 1 bunch parsley

Meat & Poultry

  • 8 oz bacon

Spices & Seasoning

  • 1 bunch thyme
  • salt
  • black pepper

Other

  • 2 lb dried peas

Method

  1. Soak the dried peas overnight, then drain them and put them in a heavy pot with fresh water.

  2. Add a piece of bacon or salt pork, a chopped onion, and a bundle of thyme and parsley.

  3. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for two hours, stirring now and then, until the peas collapse.

  4. Remove the bacon, chop it, and return it to the pot. Season with salt and a good amount of pepper.

  5. Thin with a little water if it is too stiff, and serve with coarse bread and, if you have it, a spoonful of butter.

Adapted from The Forme of Cury.

Served at

The first citizen's table · Florence, Italy

A supper for the new philosophy · London, England

A letter on toleration · Amsterdam, Netherlands