[Sca-cooks] Another question on peas

[Terry Decker]

> So, in a moment of synchronicity I just happened to be reading about peas
> in the Lustgarten book I gushed over yesterday.  Ryff describes three
> types - the common dried white pea that is sewn on acreage, the wild
> fieldpea and the well shaped green pea (from Alsace, he tells us).  He
> also says they are called Pisa, after the city they were first know.  He
> seems quite comfortable with describing these, and even says that his book
> is written for the common man to share this kind of knowledge in the
> entry. I'm not so concerned with the actual accuracy of his history as I
> am wanting to understand what a 16th century person might have known.
>

A 16th Century person would have referred to pea as pease (the noun is 
singular, plural peasen as derived from OE) the ending -se being dropped 
sometime after 1600.  The word has nothing to do with Pisa, being derived 
from the Greek "pison."  I suspect, but do not know, that Ryff's error stems 
from the Latin plural of "pisum," which is "pisa."

> My question is, when wanting to approximate the closest
> medieval/renaissance equivalent pea, is it more proper to choose a yellow
> dried pea than a green one, or some other choice?  I recall someone sagely
> posting about the high protein grey pea probably being extinct so I am
> curious.
>

Either yellow or green would work as both were available.

The grey pea or grey field pea is not extinct.  These are common names used 
to refer to a number of varieties of Pisum sativum arvense.  The common name 
has fallen into disuse as more accurate terminaolgy entered the agricultural 
literature, but you will still find grey pea or grey field pea used in 
agricultural publications during the first half of the 20th Century.  What 
has occurred is field peas have been marginalized as human food and are now 
primarily used as animal fodder and ground cover.  Yellow and green 
varietals are particular favored in the ground cover department because they 
have a better amrket value.

> Are there some good basic reference books I should consult about period
> specific forms of food that have since been highly hybridized?  Grains,
> especially? Or is knowledge scattered in food technology journals that
> requires one to hitch up the sleeves and find them?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Katrine

The basics are covered in Davidson"s Oxford Companion to Food (available in 
paperback as the Penguin Companion to Food, IIRC) and The Cambridge World 
History of Food.  If you seriously get involved in the study, be ready to 
read a lot of scientific papers, herbals, obscure journals, contemporary 
letters and general history.  For grains, legumes and the like, you will 
need to add archeological summaries.  You also need to work with Linnean 
taxonomy (to precisely define what you are talking about) and get a handle 
on pre-Linnean taxonomy.  Sounds daunting, but I find it a lot of fun.

Bear