Page 44 - ALG Issue 1 2020

Northern
Northumberland, Cumbria and Durham
Carlin Peas
Harry James, Newcastle upon Tyne
This ancient round pea, a unique brown colour and nutty flavour, dates back to at least Elizabethan times. One version of their origin is that a Spanish ship was shipwrecked off the coast of Britain; the bags of peas were washed ashore and then grown by local farmers. From those times it became a local favourite dish called parched peas, served with vinegar and salt. I believe that now is the time to bring them back again into the British diet.
Carlin Peas are often sold under the dialect name of Black Badger Peas and used in curries by soaking them overnight in water and then cooking them for 45 minutes. The traditional way to cook Carlins for Carlin Sunday is to soak them overnight in salted water, brought to a gentle heat and left to cook overnight. The next day boil them again in water with a hint of vinegar for approximately 1 hour until soft, but not
mushy. Allow to cool and serve with rum and brown sugar or, as an alternative, douse them in mint sauce. Served like this they were to be found in the bars
of north east pubs on Carlin Sunday. They were also often eaten at supper
on Carlin Sunday with added pepper
for grown-ups and a knob of butter
for the children – if sufficient was left over from the weekly ration. On Holy Island (Lindisfarne) they were eaten in the pubs served from a large bowl on the bar on the Saturday evening before Carlin Sunday. Children at the time would recite at home and at school: “the third Sunday before Easter is Carlin, followed by Palm and Pasche Egg Day”. All of these traditions were kept going until the late 1970s. An alternative after cooking is to use them in a salad by mixing them in a bowl with crushed garlic cloves, olive oil, juice and zest of
a lemon, chopped sundried tomatoes, chopped basil and salad leaves served
The third Sunday before Easter is Carlin, followed by Palm and Pasche Egg Day
with crusty bread. Carlin Peas can also be used as an alternative to chickpeas or Le Puy lentils. Another tradition was that the local pigeon fanciers fed maple peas (Carlins) to their birds.
Other versions of their arrival in the
UK are that the peas arrived on a boat from Norway to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1327, or from France on the Sunday before Palm Sunday in 1644 (known locally as Carlin Sunday) to save the citizens from starvation. Which is it – a Norwegian heirloom, or the saviour from France? My personal view is that they arrived from France, as Newcastle upon Tyne was under siege as part of the First English Civil War by the Scots in 1644 (3rd February to 19th October). In 1327 frequent raids were made from the north, but not for any length of time, as in 1644.
To grow Carlins, I plant them in root trainers in an unheated greenhouse in February, and then harden off and plant in rows staked as they grow to a height of five feet, with light and dark purple flowers. Harvest when the pods change
44 Allotment and Leisure Gardener