Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. 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 Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

' '' 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 Pottage or potage (, ; ) is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word ''pottage'' comes from the same Old French root as ''potage'', whi ...

(or

pease porridge Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, it ...

), 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 ...

, for whose court at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye it was named, c. 1660–1680.

Around the world

Australia

The pie floater 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 ...

singular and plural form of the word " pea"—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 ...

Pease pudding Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, ...

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 Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger ...

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 Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and then rinsed in fresh water, after which the peas are gathered in a saucepan, covered with water, and brought to a boil, and ...

" commonly sold as the typical accompaniment to fish and chips, as well as with

meat pie A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. M ...

s. 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 William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

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'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.

Canada

''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

, 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 Jiggs dinner, also called boiled dinner or cooked dinner, is a traditional meal commonly prepared and eaten on Sundays in Newfoundland. Corned beef and cabbage was the favorite meal of Jiggs, the central character in the popular, long-running c ...

, which is known as

pease pudding Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, ...

. Outside Francophone 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 Jama ...

. 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 dri ...

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

, 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, ...

, onions, leeks, 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, ...

. 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 whea ...

() 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, 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 Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

;

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 a ...

;

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

. 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 onio ...

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 indigen ...

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 marj ...

. In Finland the soup is made of green peas; in Sweden and Denmark yellow peas are used.

Sweden and Finland

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 pancakes with jam ( strawberry, raspberry,

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 myrtill ...

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) refers to a specific type of alcoholic liqueur and punch popular in Sweden and Finland. It is most frequently described as ''Swedish Punsch'', and while historical variations have also been called , , and , punsc ...

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, a winter festival associated with

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten ...

, is generally celebrated by eating green pea soup and either pancakes or a seasonal pastry called laskiaispulla. 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 Es ...

(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, ...

-poisoned pea soup.

Denmark

In Denmark, pea soup is served with pancakes and the mustard is scooped up with rugbrød 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 ...

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 prin ...

, 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 kitchen A field kitchen is a mobile kitchen, mobile canteens or food truck used primarily by militaries to provide warm food to the troops near the frontline or in temporary encampments. Description The first field kitchens were carried in four-wh ...

s. Currently, decommissioned

s 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,

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. 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, and "green decorated cake"."Household Department", ''Boston Daily Globe,'' March 16, 1919, p. 76

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 Sweden
Detailed 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