Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

s, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, it is consumed to a lesser extent in the rest of Britain. In

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, it retains its traditional name as part of the customary Jiggs dinner. In non-English speaking countries, similar dishes exist under different names.

Dish

Pease pudding is typically thick, somewhat similar in texture to (but perhaps a little more solid than) hummus, and is light yellow in colour, with a mild taste. Pease pudding is traditionally produced in England, especially in the industrial North Eastern areas including

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, and on down to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

on the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

border. It is often served with ham or

, beetroot and stottie cakes. It is also a key ingredient in the classic saveloy dip. In Southern England, it is usually served with faggots. Also in southern England is the small village of Pease Pottage which, according to tradition, gets its name from serving pease

pottage Pottage or potage (, ; ) is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word ''pottage'' comes from the same Old French root as ''potage'', w ...

to convicts either on their way from London to the South Coast, or from

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Peasemeal brose, also known as brosemeal, is a traditional breakfast dish in the north of Scotland. It is made in the traditional way and usually eaten with butter, and either salt or honey. In parts of the Midlands, it replaces

mushy peas Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with baking soda, and then rinsed in fresh water, after which the peas are gathered in a saucepan, covered with water, and brought to a boil, and then simmered until t ...

as a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips, although the distinction is largely the name and tendency for mushy peas to be green. In both cases, the starchy "field peas" used are harvested dry, as opposed to "sweet peas", which are the same species harvested fresh.

Etymology

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

, was a

mass noun In linguistics, a mass noun, uncountable noun, non-count noun, uncount noun, or just uncountable, is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete eleme ...

used in the same way as ''

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

'' or ''

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been dehusked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains ( groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel- ...

''. Later taken to be a plural form, the modern singular ''pea'' and its plural ''peas'' derive from this, in a process known as

back-formation Back-formation is the process or result of creating a neologism, new word via Morphology (linguistics), morphology, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes ...

Regional variations

The dish is a traditional part of Jiggs dinner in Newfoundland, Canada. In German-speaking countries, pease pudding is known under the name or . Alternative regional names are or . It is especially widespread in the traditional cuisine of the German capital

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The best-known German dish which is traditionally served with pease pudding is '' Eisbein''. A similar dish with ham hock, , is served in Lithuania. In the Netherlands, pea soup is called , or . It is cooked with dried split peas (yellow, or green), with chopped onions and bay leaf, and a smoked pork sausage, often Polish, which is then sliced, and served with the soup. Traditional

Russian cuisine Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russians, Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds ...

has several pea-based dishes, including pease pudding/puree/soups known as () or (). In the Gorokhovetsky District of

Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, the oblast's population was 1,443,693. The UNESCO World Heritage L ...

the dish goes by the name () and is traditionally made for weddings, commemorations of the dead, Christmas, and

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast (Greek language, Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή, ''Megali Tessarakosti'' or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, ''Megali Nisteia'', meaning "Great 40 Days", and "Great Fast", respectively), is the most impor ...

. In Beijing cuisine, ''

wandouhuang Wandouhuang (simplified Chinese: 豌豆黄; traditional Chinese: 豌豆黃; Pinyin: wāndòuhuáng), also called ''wandouhuangr'' (豌豆黄儿), is a traditional snack or dessert in China. It was popular among the Chinese Han population, and the ...

'' () is a sweetened and chilled pease pudding made with yellow split peas or shelled mung beans, sometimes flavoured with sweet osmanthus blossoms and dates. A refined version of this snack is said to have been a favourite of

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...

. In Greek cuisine, a similar dish is called (). Despite the name, it is usually made from yellow split peas, not broad beans. The mashed peas are usually drizzled with olive oil and topped with chopped raw onions.

Recipe

Generally, recipes for pease pudding involve steeping soaked split yellow peas in stock (traditionally ham hock stock) and cooking them for around 40 minutes. The resulting mush is then blended with other ingredients, which depend on the variation. The oldest known written recipe for something similar to pease pudding involves saffron, nutmeg and a little

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

in the blending process; modern recipes sometimes beat in an egg at this point to act as an extra binding agent.

In popular culture

Pease pudding is featured in a nursery rhyme, " Pease Porridge Hot". The song " Food, Glorious Food" from the 1960s West End and Broadway musical (and 1968 film) '' Oliver!'' has a lyric extolling pease pudding. In '' The Princess and the Goblin'', Curdie takes bread and pease pudding with him for sustenance when he goes to spy on the King's house.

References