Dried Peas

History

This recipe appears as "Guisantes" in the potajes (legume pottages) section of La Mejor Cocinera, Recetas de Cocina, an anonymously authored Spanish home-cookery collection published by Editorial Saturnino Calleja in Madrid. As printed, it is a dried-pea pottage: the dried peas are put in cold water with salt, tocino (salt pork), onion, and parsley; once cooked, flour is toasted in manteca (lard), a ladleful of caldo (broth) is added and briefly boiled, and the two are combined before serving. The book is a general household recipe collection that arranges its dishes by principal ingredient, with additional sections on serving a meal and on household cleaning. Beyond its appearance in this cookbook, the sources consulted here do not document a specific origin, regional lineage, or social meaning for this particular dried-pea preparation; the surviving evidence is the printed recipe itself. Located copies of the book carry imprint dates of 1921 and 1923, and the precise year of first publication is uncertain.

Ingredients

• dried peas
• water
• salt
• tocino (salt pork)
• onion
• parsley
• flour
• manteca (lard)
• 1 ladle caldo (broth)

Instructions

1. Place the dried peas in cold water with salt, tocino (salt pork), onion, and parsley. Once cooked through, toast flour in manteca (lard) in a separate pan. Add one ladleful of caldo (broth) to the toasted flour and lard mixture, let it come to a boil briefly, then combine with the cooked peas and serve.