Gray peas
Gray peas are a traditional dish that is eaten in Schleswig-Holstein , especially in Elmshorn and some neighboring towns, on Shrove Tuesday. This dish is also widespread in East Frisia ; earlier it was also known in East Prussia . Gray peas are also eaten in Ahlen , but one day later than in Elmshorn, on Ash Wednesday .
The gray peas are a kind of stew , the main ingredient of which is the eponymous gray peas (also known as capuchin peas). They are soaked in water, boiled for several hours and usually with potatoes , bacon sauce , braised onions and pork cheek , Kassel and cooked sausage served (Low German Gray ARFEN with Swiensback, Kassler and Kokswust ). The first recipes for preparing gray peas (as a vegetable side dish ) can be found among others at Sophie Wilhelmine Scheibler .
This stew comes from the time of the Thirty Years' War , and there are some legends in the Elmshorn region about the origin of the gray peas and their significance. All versions have in common that Elmshorn suffered from a great famine as a result of the war. Some families report that the distress was alleviated because a farmer instead boiled the peas he intended to feed his pigs. It is also said that by chance a ship loaded with the peas, which were considered to be inferior , came up the Krückau , only shortly after the marauding troops had withdrawn. Other versions report that the peas were discovered in an abandoned warehouse.
The gray peas were originally only offered to regular guests and visitors free of charge on Shrove Tuesday in the inns in Elmshorn and the surrounding area. This tradition has now partially survived. Today, due to the great demand, the dish is offered in various restaurants for several days. The dish is usually only available for free in private settings in club houses or in closed societies, but in restaurants the gray peas are often served at cost or at least at a reasonable price. On the days in question, the catering establishments are usually full to capacity, and the gray-pea meal has the character of a festival. Caraway schnapps and beer are mainly drunk with the heavy meal.
In East Frisia, gray peas are not eaten as a stew, but rather as a side dish to potatoes, similar to green peas. They are soaked in water and boiled overnight. As a sauce, bacon is left out crispy and poured over the peas with the fat. This makes the floury, dry gray peas very tasty.
Web links
- Eating the gray peas - legend and truth . Article on the website of the city of Elmshorn
- Gray peas and their history. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008 ; Retrieved January 19, 2012 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Lesniczak: Old landscape kitchens in the wake of modernization. Studies on a nutritional geography of Germany between 1860 and 1930, part 4. (= studies on the history of everyday life , volume 21). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08099-6 , pp. 174, 204, 318 ( online at Google books ).
- ↑ Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Ahlen mbH (ed.): Ahlen - Worth knowing, interesting and curious things for guests and locals . 1st edition August 2009. ( online at Stadt Ahlen).
- ^ Sophie Wilhelmine Scheibler (ed.): General German cookbook for all stands. 17th edition. CF Amelang, Berlin 1866, p. 205 ( online at Google books).