Pea soup or split pea soup is
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
made typically from dried
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s, such as the
split pea
Split peas are an agricultural or culinary preparation consisting of the dried, peeled and split seeds of ''Pisum sativum'', the pea.
Harvesting
The peas are spherical when harvested, with an outer skin. The peas are dried and the dull-coloure ...
. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of ''Pisum sativum''.
History
Pea soup has been eaten since antiquity; it is mentioned in
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...
' ''
The Birds'', and according to one source "the Greeks and Romans were cultivating this legume about 500 BC to 400 BC. During that era, vendors in the streets of Athens were selling hot pea soup."
Eating fresh "garden" peas before they were matured was a luxurious innovation of the Early Modern period: by contrast with the coarse, traditional peasant fare of pease
pottage (or
pease porridge), Potage Saint-Germain, made of fresh peas and other fresh greens braised in light stock and pureed, was an innovation sufficiently refined that it could be served to
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
, for whose court at the
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the ''département'' of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the ''musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nati ...
it was named, c. 1660–1680.
Around the world
Australia
![Pie floater in Adelaide SA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Pie_floater_in_Adelaide_SA.jpg)
The
pie floater
The pie floater is an Australian dish particularly common in Adelaide. It consists of a meat pie in a thick pea soup, typically with the addition of tomato sauce. Believed to have been first created in the 1890s, the pie floater gained populari ...
is an Australian dish particularly common in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. It consists of a meat pie in a thick pea soup, typically with the addition of
tomato sauce
Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...
. Believed to have been first created in the 1890s, the pie floater gained popularity as a meal sold by South Australian pie carts.
A pie floater commonly consists of a traditional
Australian-style meat pie, usually sitting, but sometimes submerged (traditionally upside down) in a bowl of thick pea soup made from blue boiler peas.
Britain and Ireland
A well-known nursery rhyme which first appeared in 1765 speaks of
"Pease" is the
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
singular and plural form of the word "
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
"—indeed, "pea" began as a
back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the c ...
.
Pease pudding was a high-protein, low-cost staple of the diet and, made from easily stored dried peas, was an ideal form of food for sailors, particularly boiled in accompaniment with
salt pork which is the origin of pea (and ham) soup. Although pease was replaced as a staple by potatoes during the nineteenth century, the food still remains popular in the national diet in the form of "
mushy peas" commonly sold as the typical accompaniment to
fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...
, as well as with
meat pies.
In 19th-century English literature, pea soup is referred to as a simple food and eating it as a sign of poverty. In the
Thackeray short story "A Little Dinner at Timmins's", when a character asks his wife "Why don't you ask some of our old friends? Old Mrs. Portman has asked us twenty times, I am sure, within the last two years", she replies, with "a look of ineffable scorn", that when "the last time we went there, there was pea-soup for dinner!" In
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
's ''
Tess of the D'Urbervilles'', Tess remarks that "we have several proofs that we are d'Urbervilles ... we have a very old silver spoon, round in the bowl like a little ladle, and marked with the same castle. But it is so worn that mother uses it to stir the pea-soup."
A soup of this sort made with yellow split-peas is called "London particular", after the
thick yellow smogs for which London was famous until the
Clean Air Act 1956
The Clean Air Act 1956 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted principally in response to London's Great Smog of 1952. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health ...
.
Canada
![Yellow Split Pea Soup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Yellow_Split_Pea_Soup.jpg)
''Soupe aux pois (jaunes)'' (yellow pea soup) is a traditional dish in Québec cuisine. Traditional Québécois cuisine resembles early Maine and Vermont cuisines.
One source says "The most authentic version of Quebec's soupe aux pois use whole yellow peas, with
salt pork, and herbs for flavour. After cooking, the pork is usually chopped and returned to the soup, or sometimes removed to slice thinly and served separately ... Newfoundland Pea Soup is very similar, but usually includes more vegetables such as diced turnips and carrots, and is often topped with small dumplings called dough boys or doughballs."
In Newfoundland, split peas are cooked in a bag as part of a
Jiggs dinner, which is known as
pease pudding.
Outside
Francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
areas, pea soup is sometimes served with
johnny cake
Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. ...
. This is reflected in an old saying: "pea soup and johnny cake makes a Frenchman's belly ache".
Germany
Pea soup is a common dish throughout Germany. It often contains meat such as bacon, sausage or (cured and smoked pork) depending on regional preferences. Very often, several sausages will accompany a serving of pea soup as well as some dark bread. Ready-made soup in cans is sometimes used to prepare the dish.
One of the first
instant products was a pea soup product, which mainly consisted of
pea meal and
beef fat
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, includin ...
(: pea sausage). It was invented in 1867 by Johann Heinrich Grüneberg, who sold the recipe to the Prussian state. When the
Franco-Prussian War broke out, the war ministry, which had previously tested the possibility of feeding soldiers solely on instant pea soup and bread, built a large manufacturing plant and produced between 4,000 and 5,000 tons of for the army during the war. In 1889, the
Knorr instant-food company bought the license. Knorr, which is today a
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...
brand, discontinued the production of on December 31, 2018.
Indonesia
As a former Dutch colony, Indonesia has inherited this dish as a result of Dutch–Indonesian culture, and is known as ''sup ercis'' or ''erwtensoep''.
Netherlands
![Erwtensoep roggebrood katenspek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Erwtensoep_roggebrood_katenspek.jpg)
, also called , is the Dutch version of pea soup. It is a thick stew of green split peas, different cuts of pork,
celeriac
Celeriac (''Apium graveolens'' var. ''rapaceum''), also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery (although it is not a close relative of the turnip), is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible stem or hypocotyl, and shoo ...
or stalk
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...
, onions,
leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
s, carrots, and often potato. Slices of (smoked sausage) are added before serving. The soup, which is traditionally eaten during the winter, is emblematic of
Dutch cuisine
Dutch cuisine ( nl, Nederlandse keuken) is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country's cuisine is shaped by its location in the fertile North Sea river delta of the European Plain, giving rise to fishing, fa ...
.
It is customarily served with Frisian
rye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat f ...
() and bacon, cheese or butter. The bacon is usually , a variety of bacon which has been cooked and then smoked. Pancakes are sometimes served with pea soup; this dish is called , referring to the pancakes.
In the Royal Dutch Navy the pea soup is completed with small cubes of lard which float as white squares on top. It is therefore referred to as (pea soup with floating ice).
So-called
koek-en-zopie outlets, small food and drinks stalls which spring up only during winters along frozen canals, ponds and lakes in the Netherlands and cater to ice skaters, usually serve as a savoury snack.
In
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
, a former Dutch colony, Dutch-style pea soup is eaten as a street food.
Nordic countries
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
;
Finnish ;
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
;
Norwegian .
Scandinavian pea soup is normally cooked with pork – although the meat may sometimes be served on the side – and a typical recipe would also include
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...
s and herbs like
thyme
Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...
and
marjoram
Marjoram (; ''Origanum majorana'') is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted mar ...
.
In Finland the soup is made of green peas; in Sweden and Denmark yellow peas are used.
Sweden and Finland
![Pea soup in Lohja](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Pea_soup_in_Lohja.jpg)
In Sweden and Finland the soup is usually served with mustard on the side, and sometimes also with extra (dried) herbs (thyme or marjoram) to be mixed into the soup at the table. The soup is then normally followed by
pancake
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...
s with jam (
strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
,
raspberry
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
,
bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrtillus ...
,
cloudberry
''Rubus chamaemorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to cool temperate regions, alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackbe ...
or similar) which are regarded more as part of the meal than as a dessert. In Sweden, the soup is sometimes accompanied by warm
punsch
Punsch (or ''punssi'' in Finnish language, Finnish) refers to a specific type of alcoholic liqueur and Punch (drink), punch popular in Sweden and Finland. It is most frequently described as ''Swedish Punsch'', and while historical variations have ...
as a special treat.
Consumption of pea soup in Sweden and Finland dates back to at least the 13th century, and is traditionally served on Thursdays. This is said to originate in the pre-
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
era, as preparation for
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
on Fridays. The tradition of Thursday pea soup is common in restaurants, schools, military messes and field kitchens, as well as in homes, and it forms an unpretentious but well-liked part of social life.
In Finland,
Laskiainen
Laskiainen () is a celebration with Finland, Finnish origins, which includes both pagan and ecclesiastic traditions, and is often described as a "mid-winter sliding festival".
In clerical sense, Laskiainen is associated with Shrove Tuesday (a.k. ...
, a winter festival associated with
Shrove Tuesday, is generally celebrated by eating green pea soup and either pancakes or a seasonal pastry called
laskiaispulla
A semla, vastlakukkel, laskiaispulla, fastlagsbulle/fastelavnsbolle or vēja kūkas is a traditional sweet roll made in various forms in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Latvia, associated with Lent and e ...
. The celebration often includes downhill
sledging.
The Swedish king
Eric XIV
Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Est ...
(1533–1577) is said to have died after eating
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
-poisoned pea soup.
Denmark
In Denmark, pea soup is served with pancakes and the mustard is scooped up with
rugbrød
() is a very common form of rye bread from Denmark. usually resembles a long brown extruded rectangle, no more than 12 cm high, and 30–35 cm wide, depending on the bread pan in which it is baked. The basic ingredient is rye flour ...
on the side. In addition, the dish is sometimes served with , boiled potatoes and pickled beets and often turned into a feast, with copious amounts of beer and
snaps
Snaps ( ) is a Danish and Swedish word for a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. A ritual that is associated with drinking snaps is a tradition in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark and Sweden, where it ...
on festive occasions.
In Denmark the dish can be dated to 1766 in written sources, but might have originated as early as the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, when dried peas and cabbage became popular vegetables for the long winters there.
Norway
In Norway pea soup is traditionally served at springtime and Easter, and is complemented with potatoes, carrots and vegetables.
Poland
In Poland, pea soup is typically associated with the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, where it still remains a popular dish. This is because pea soup is nutritious and cheap, and can be easily prepared in large quantities. Military pea soup () is said to have to be thick enough to put a spoon straight up in it. Though the pea soup is normally prepared in messes, the dish is typically associated with
field kitchens. Currently, decommissioned
field kitchens are often used during mass events.
United States
In the United States, "pea soup" without qualification usually means a perfectly smooth puree. A recipe for "pea soup" from 1905 is made with split peas,
salt pork and cold roast beef. The soup is strained through a sieve to achieve the desired texture.
"Split Pea Soup" is a slightly thinner soup with visible peas and pieces of ham, especially popular in the Northeast, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. It does however play a role in the light-hearted tradition of serving green-colored foods on
St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
. For example, a 1919 Boston Globe article suggests a suitable menu for "A St. Patrick's Day Dinner" leading off with "Cream of Green Pea Soup (American Style)", and continuing with codfish croquettes with green pea sauce, lettuce salad,
pistachio ice cream
Pistachio ice cream or pistachio nut ice cream is an ice cream flavor made with pistachio nuts or flavoring. It is often distinctively green in color. Pistachio is also a flavor of sorbet and gelato. Pistachio ice cream is a layer in spumoni.
...
, and "green decorated cake".
["Household Department", ''Boston Daily Globe,'' March 16, 1919, p. 76]
See also
*
Dal
In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of p ...
*
Lentil soup
Lentil soup is a soup with lentils as its main ingredient; it may be vegetarian or include meat, and may use brown, red, yellow, green or black lentils, with or without the husk. Dehulled yellow and red lentils disintegrate in cooking, making a ...
*
List of legume dishes
This is a list of legume dishes. A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their food grain seed (e.g. beans and lentils, or generally pulse) ...
*
List of soups
This is a list of notable soups. Soups have been made since Ancient history, ancient times.
Some soups are served with large chunks of meat or vegetables left in the liquid, while others are served as a broth. A broth is a flavored liquid usua ...
*
List of vegetable soups
*
Marrowfat peas
*
Pie floater
The pie floater is an Australian dish particularly common in Adelaide. It consists of a meat pie in a thick pea soup, typically with the addition of tomato sauce. Believed to have been first created in the 1890s, the pie floater gained populari ...
*
Sambar (dish)
References
* Baring-Gould, William. S. and Ceil Baring-Gould (1962) ''The Annotated Mother Goose.'' (Bramhall House)
ease porridge rhyme: dates from 1765, refers to a "thin pudding."
External links
The homely fare of SwedenDetailed article about the Thursday pea soup tradition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pea Soup
Soups
Dutch cuisine
Czech cuisine
Polish soups
Swedish cuisine
Finnish cuisine
Soviet cuisine
Cuisine of Quebec
Legume dishes
Canadian cuisine
Ukrainian soups
Vegetable soups
American soups
Australian soups
German soups
New Zealand soups