Braised Split Peas

The pulses that became so important in the British diet were brought in from the Continent – the small Celtic bean (of the broad bean family) and the pea, varieties of which were introduced by the Romans. The pea was particularly prized because it could be eaten fresh (although nothing like as sweet and tender as the garden peas cultivated centuries later in Italy). It could also be dried, when it was ground for a bread meal, or lengthily simmered in a meat or vegetable soup, to which it wo