Receipts (recipes) for several of the same dishes
appear time and time again in cookbooks of every
century. The specifics may change slightly, but
the basics remain the same. Pea soup is one such
dish that’s commonly found throughout the ages.
Here’s a receipt using green peas that was possibly
served often while Henry VIII and members of his court
were in residence at Hampton Court Palace. First up
is the Tudor original as it was written, weird words,
odd spellings, and all (read it out loud, it’ll even sorta
make sense!), followed by a modern interpretation:*
PERRE
Take grene pesyn, and boile hem
in a potte; And whan they ben y-broke,
drawe the brot a good quantite thorg
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 suc tendur brede,
and kutte hit yn fere mosselles, and caste
there-to; And then serue hit so for.
MODERN VERSION
Take some peas and boil them in water
until well cooked and very soft. Pass
them through a sieve to create a puree
and remove the husks then return the
puree to the heat. Add some finely
chopped onions and parsley, ground
cinnamon and pepper and continue
to cook. Next add ground ginger,
vinegar, saffron and salt along with
a small quantity of fine white bread.
Continue cooking until the bread is
completely incorporated into the puree,
and then serve.
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*Source: The Taste of the Fire, The Story of the Tudor Kitchens
at Hampton Court Palace
