A Boke of Gode Cookery Presents

Pescodde

PERIOD: France, 14th century | SOURCE: Le Menagier de Paris | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Pea Pods


ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

In new peas cooked to be eaten in the pod, you must add bacon on a meat day: and on a fish day, when they are cooked, you separate the liquid and add underneath melted salt butter, and then shake it.

- Power, Eileen. The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris). A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by A Citizen of Paris (c. 1395).New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1928.


MODERN RECIPE:

  • 2 pounds fresh new peas pods
  • 3 slices of bacon
  • 2 C water
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 T butter (optional)
1. Rinse the pea pods, and trim off stems.

2. In a pot, over medium heat, bring water to a boil, add bacon, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for ten minutes.

3. Add pea pods, return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for twenty minutes, or until the pea pods are tender. Remove the bacon, and drain. Put into a serving bowl, salt to taste. Add butter if desired. The bacon may be added as a garnish.

Serves four to six.

Notes on the Recipe:

The Feast of the Holy Trinity falls at the end of May, or the first half of June, eight weeks after Easter. This menu item from In Festo Sancte Trinitatis in Cena indicates that advantage was being taken of the availability of fresh produce.

Pescodde is featured in In Festo Sancte Trinitatis in Cena

Metric, Celsius, & Gas Mark Equivalencies

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Pescodde © 2000 Rudd Rayfield | This page © 2000 James L. Matterer

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