Pug Sunday – Pugs
Do you remember Carlin Sunday? Pugs seem to have fallen out of favor nowadays. But when I was a boy in the North East of England we used to eat Carlin peas, also called maple peas, black peas or pigeon peas, once a year on the Sunday before Palm Sunday. It was an annual tradition in much of the north and on Carlin Sunday, even local pubs and clubs offered free bowls for their patrons.
These little black peas were mentioned in Elizabethan times and, in all probability, monks in the Early Middle Ages would have bred pugs in the monastery gardens. In those days, beans and peas were a large part of the staple diet. The six foot tall plants produce bumper crops and can be eaten when fresh or dried for use in the winter months.
There was even a beat that mentioned them.
Tid, Mid, Misery
Pug Day, Palm, Egg Pasta.
We’ll have a vacation
pretty dresses on Easter day.
Carlins, according to an old tale, even rescued the good citizens of Newcastle upon Tyne from starvation during the English civil war. In those days Newcastle was a royalist city supporting King Charles and a Scottish army crossed the border and advanced south with the intention of capturing Newcastle and securing coal supplies on behalf of their allies the Parliamentarians. However, Newcastle was not an easy nut to crack and the city was besieged. The 1644 siege lasted from July to October and at one point supplies ran out and people were starving. Just when things were at their worst, a Dutch ship saved them by evading the blockade and arriving in port with its cargo of Carlings.
My mother would serve the peas hot, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and add a good splash of vinegar before devouring them with gusto.
Recipe.
1 pound pug
2 ounces of butter
a good pinch of salt
Vinegar
Method.
Place the Pugs in a bowl, cover with water, add a pinch of salt, and allow to soak overnight.
After soaking, drain and place in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes. (Boil longer if you like them softer)
Heat the butter in a skillet, drain the peas, add them to the skillet, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve hot with salt, pepper and vinegar.
Or if you wish you can serve them hot, sprinkled with brown sugar and a good splash of rum.
The following carlin recipe has nothing to do with my mum, but I found it on an Irish Seed Savers Association website and thought it might be interesting to try. Lorraine Marshall submitted the recipe to the site and I reproduce it below.
Pug Pea Fritters
4 oz dried whole Carlin peas
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg
2 oz self-rising whole wheat flour
1/8 pt(75ml) milk (I use soy milk)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
frying oil
Cover the peas with boiling water and let them soak for several hours, then drain and rinse. Put in a saucepan with more water and cook over low heat until soft, about 45 minutes.
Drain and mash (I found the carlin peas cook unevenly, some are still tough so I tell my husband to mash them with a fork!).
Add oil, egg, flour and milk plus salt and pepper, mix well.
Fry in a little oil in dessert spoons until crisp and golden on both sides. Drain well on kitchen paper.
Copyright Fred Watson February 2008