So, another go at pease pudding last night – no photo this time. Used a much smaller amount of split peas, an in general, it’s much better. For a start, it tastes like the pease pudding my mam used to make, and it’s mostly smooth and creamy. We had to push it through a sieve to get it like that though. Need to cook the split peas for longer, and not quite so tightly packed together (the ones in the middle were still mostly raw). But in general, we’re getting closer!
I’m considering just putting the gammon joint into water, with the split peas loose, and boiling it until the peas go soft, and then straining the water away (for stock), rather than putting the peas in muslin.
Hello there. I wonder if like me, you were born and raised in the North East of England and grew up with pease pudding..?
I’ve had relative success making it. I like it, but obviously I can’t compare the standard to how your mam used to make it! For what it’s worth, I boil a joint of gammon, remove it from the water, then pour in split peas straight from the packet (never had the need to soak them) and boil until cooked – to the point where they break down into a paste. I would probably have to add more water but only a little at a time since draining removes some of the flavour. I would usually add some butter at the end and then blend with a hand blender.
Enjoy!
Yeh, Newcastle! Pease pudding on stotty (real stotty, not the stuff they make now and call stotty)! Interesting approach, and I think I’ll do that next time. My mam used to make pease pudding while making soup, so she’d boil ham shank and the split peas in muslin, then use the water for soup stock, and beat the split peas into pease pudding. I’d started thinking I should just boil the peas with the gammon but like your approach as well. Thanks for the tip! When I checked the web I found people making it by baking it in an oven which just felt wrong to me, couldn’t bring myself to try it.