Black peas

For the unrelated species known as "Black pea", see Lathyrus niger.

Black peas, also called parched peas or dapple peas, are cooked purple-podded peas (Pisum sativum var. arvense[1]). They are a traditional Lancashire dish usually served with lashings of malt vinegar, and traditionally on or around Bonfire Night (5 November). The dish is popular in Bury, Preston, Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan, Bolton, Atherton, Tyldesley, Leigh and Heywood. The dried peas are soaked overnight and simmered to produce a type of mushy pea. Parching is a now-defunct term for long slow boiling.[2]

The peas are field peas, left to dry on the plant, as distinct from garden peas, picked green for fresh consumption. The Carlin pea, a different variety prepared in similar ways and also eaten in the north of England, dates back to the 12th century.[3] It is said that Martin Frobisher buried caches of these peas on Baffin Island in the 1570s to sustain his expedition while seeking the Northwest Passage.[4]

  1. ^ "The Art and Mystery of Food: Grey, Black, Carling, Pigeon Peas and "Burning the Witch"". Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  2. ^ "Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire Regional Dishes, Foods & Delicacies". Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Greene, Wesley (2012). Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way: 18th-Century Methods for Today's Organic Gardeners. Rodale. p. 8. ISBN 9781609611637. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  4. ^ Albala, Ken (2017). Beans: A History. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781350026124.