Kapucijnerschotel--Dutch Captain's Dinner Recipe

This hearty winter dish, which goes by the hard-to-pronounce name kapucijnerschotel in dutch, is sometimes called captain's dinner because it was a typical meal served to dutch sea captains on the long voyages of the dutch east indies company (voc). Legumes and salted meats could survive the damp holds of the ships, but were still a treat compared with the unpalatable hardtack rations doled out to the rest of the crew. The story goes that kapucijners, a dutch variety of the grey pea, were named for the greyish-brown habits of the capuchin order of monks (the very same order that gave its name to the common cappuccino). Because kapucijners are a type of grey pea unique to the netherlands, they can be hard to find elsewhere, but they are well worth seeking out.