Same procedure every year.

The first cold days, we start heating and we cook the first winter meal, pea soup ! That’s what we had last weekend. I thought to give you the recipe, no problem at all. During writing down the recipe, I had a quick look into „history of pea soup“. That was a mistake and now I had a problem. I couldn’t help myself diving into history again, and into different cultures and their manners. I tried to keep it as short as possible. Here the result, almost blowing every boundary of a pea soup recipe.

  Getting hungry, ready to dig in ?

Pea Soup History.

Pea soup has been eaten since antiquity. It is mentioned in Aristophanes‘ „The Birds“, and according to one source, the Greeks and Romans were cultivating this legume about 500 to 400 BC. During that era, vendors in the streets of Athens were selling hot pea soup.

   Ancient Greek soup cooking.

Pea soup is a staple in many cuisines for thousands of years and is made similarly in most of them. It is considered food for the poor and was cooked aboard ships, served almost daily, because peas could be transported and kept for long periods without going bad.

Ancient soup cooking, we won’t know which one.

Germany.

It was also used during the Franco-Prussian War  (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), (Deutsch Franzoesischer Krieg, often called the war of „siebzig-einundsiebzig“). To feed the soldiers of their army fighting 1870 to France, the Prussian military used as the first time the so named „Erbswurst“. The content of this „sausage“ is not made of flesh, but of a mixture of pea flour, bacon, spices and salt that is spent with a sausage syringe in paper sleeves.

   Old Knorr advertising, using the war history from 1870-1871 and on the right the mass production during this time.

The Erbswurst was developed already in 1867. The canner Johann Heinrich Grüneberg from Berlin is the actual obstetrician of this first German „instant soup“. The Prussian state bought him from his invention for 35 thousand dollars. In the trenches of the Franco-German war then begins the triumph of this early version of fast food: 1700 workers produce per day up to 65 tons Erbswurst.

  Old samples of the Erbswurst, around the 1950’s-1960’s.

To imperial times the instant soup has a rigorous entrance exam are: In „feeding experiments“ get soldiers forcibly a diet of bread and Erbswurst. Only when they have to try to survive for six weeks without damage, the fighting troops is boarded it. Here it becomes a not unimportant contribution of modern warfare, because the durable and easy to transport duration Preserve Erbswurst makes the troops management more flexible.

  The „one man personal MUST outfit“ during the World Wars used by German soldiers, from top to bottom: A packet of hard cookies, a long knife (bajonett-fits on top of the carbine), a hand grenade, two rolls of ERBSWURST, a sachet of grounded real bean coffee and a block of black chocolate.

  Modern Erbswurst made by Knorr and labeled 1889. It was and is, still used at a survival food. Each part makes one serving.

In 1889, the Knorr instant-food company bought the license. Knorr, which is today a Unilever brand, continues the production of Erbswurst to the present day.

   Erbswurst !  We were brought up with this „chemical stuff“,  but I never liked it. Still I was, so as many many others, forced to eat it. After the war, as a kid, then during the boy scouts in the bush and finally during the military time in the field. The military also trained me to love pea soup, but the good homemade one, the „real one“, made in big amounts and out of the „goulash cannon“.

  At least, the Erbswurst is everywhere usable, even smallest pots and a bit water can make a suvival soup. It is like the „Liebig’s Fleisch Extrakt“ in the mid 1800’s. See my posts „Liebig’s Meat Extract – Part 1 till 4“.

After the 2nd WW, in the 1950’s, when we were poor and had not much to eat, our mother cooked at least once or twice a week such kind of Erbswurst. We kids thought it was a horrible food. Just a slice of the roll and filled up with hot water made a bowl of soup. To us it looked like chemical pressed saw dust and to us it tasted like it. And we „had“ to empty one full soup bowl. Good thing was, we each got a big, thick slice of dark bread with it, of course with butter and salt.

   What a difference to the thin, watery Erbswurst soup. Thick pea soup with bacon and Frankfurts. Yummy !

Pea soup is a common dish throughout Germany. It often contains meat such as bacon, sausage (Frankfurts) or Kassler (cured and smoked pork) depending on regional preferences. Very often, several Würste (Wurst meaning sausage) will accompany a serving of pea soup as well as some dark bread.

  Early boy scout soup kitchen, so as I came to know it in the 1950’s. Here they lower a big peace of bacon into the pea soup – delicious. We all  loved that kind of a pea soup (see previous picture).

The Goulash Cannon.

The above shown kitchen had to be mobile, of course. In the city of Idar-Oberstein, Germany, Karl Rudolf Fissler, at the turn of the century, invented the modern mobile field kitchen for use in theaters of war. Founded in 1845, the Fissler company is still existent today. Fissler is worldwide known of highest quality. Their main products include knives, pots, pans, pressure cookers, accessories and an cooking surface for induction cooking.

  One of the very first mobile field kitchens.

The Fissler company produces the world’s most expensive pan costing 100,000,–Pound Sterling. Fits in Gordon Ramsay’s half million pound kitchen. By now, though, most of us are wondering whether the 100,000,–Pound pan is something perhaps more suited to a successful footballer than a chef. Housewarming present for the Beckham’s, anyone?  The Fissler diamond and gold limited edition pan is to order for 100,000,– Pound Sterling during „Timeless Luxury“ week at Harrods, London.

      World’s most expensive pot, 100.000,– Pound Sterling. How would taste our pea soup out of this pot ? If you own this pot, how about a diamond ladle for some 10.000 Pounds ??

German soldiers during World War I (WWI) quickly dubbed it: Die Gulaschkanone (goulash cannon). The “cannon” part of the nickname is due to the mobile kitchens close resemblance to an artillery piece when disassembled and towed behind a horse or motor vehicle with it’s long chimney tilted and posing as a cannon barrel. The “goulash” part is derived from the iconic Hungarian dish which was prepared on the mobile field kitchen. Other dishes included a wide variety of soups, with whatever was available, often dried vegetables such as peas, lentils and beans due to their low dry weight and the cost effective transportation.

  WW1 mobile field kitchen, cleaning procedure in a river.

The goulash cannon was designed to function as a large pressure cooker ideal for quick cooking and stewing using limited amounts of energy and could operate on fire wood, coal, oil or whatever combustible material available. The key point being durability, flexibility and multi-functionality, thus the goulash cannon was also used to prepare hot beverages such as tea, coffee, Glühwein (hot wine with spices) or to roast edible chestnuts, bake bread or even cook Knödel.

  Mobile kitchens were also used to feed the people. One portion of soup for 35 cents (35 German Pfennig).

I’m quite sure that the goulash served in the trenches wouldn’t have been worthy an Honest Cooking recipe, if containing meat at all, best option would have been killed horses, donkeys, dogs or rats, most likely the doomed soldiers wouldn’t have gotten much protein at all before they themselves became butchered. And – of course Erbswurst !

  Lot of work to run a kitchen for 100’s of soldiers.

In Erich Paul Remark’s monumental novel “Im Westen nichts Neues” (All Quiet on the Western Front) depicting the dehumanizing experience of WWI’s trench style warfare, there’s an opening scene in which the young soldiers one day finally became properly fed, but only because they received double portion caused by the loss of half their company that day without anyone notifying the army cook managing his goulash cannon battle station. The novel further describes how the bravery of the Feldkoch (army cook) is measured in how close to the front line he dares set up shop.

  Modern mobile field kitchens are used all over the world and produced by many manufacturers. Here a Kaercher kitchen used in Lesotho, Africa.

USA.

In the United States, „pea soup“ without qualification usually means a perfectly smooth puree. „Split Pea Soup“ is a slightly thinner soup with visible peas, pieces of ham or other pork, and vegetables (most commonly carrots) and is usually made from dried, green split peas. But, one of the most famous in the States is „Pea Soup Andersen’s“.

                 Andersen’s normal pea soup serving, left. And the „de luxe“ pea soup variation on the right. The soup is the same, but added a hand full of goddies. I have seen a customer review on Andersen’s restaurant : „Had the travellers special, pea soup – all you can eat, best breakfast I ever had“.  Yeah people are different, I have to try my pea soup for breakfast once.

THE LAND OF GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
It all began on Friday, June 13th, 1924, when Anton Andersen, born in Denmark purchased a piece of the Golden State, California. Andersen, who was trained in exclusive restaurants in Europe and New York, put his tuxedo in mothballs and donned a bib apron, soon to become his personal trademark. He and his wife, Juliette, opened a tiny restaurant and named it „Andersen’s Electric Cafe,“ in honor of their possession, a new electric stove.

           The Electric Cafe in the 1920’s and the Andersen buildings (restaurant, gift shop, hotels etc) in Santa Nella (on Hwy 5 California) now.

                        Some articles one can buy in Andersen’s gift shop, a bag of dried peas or a soup cup just for $5,– bucks.

CURRENT OWNERSHIP
Pea Soup Andersen’s went through multiple ownership changes. For the first time in many years the two remaining locations are under the same ownership. Milt Guggia, a Central Coast restaurateur, purchased Pea Soup Andersen’s Buellton in 1999 and Pea Soup Andersen’s Santa Nella in 2007.

         This is how Americans (and of course others too) like to have pea soup, out of the TIN.  German produce must be good, right ? But read once the back-print.  What has GUAR GUM to do with pea soup ? Why has it to contain the rubbish from leftovers of eggs, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat and more ?  May be I am mistaken, but I thought it is PEA SOUP .

  Restaurant serving in Amsterdam – Erwtensoup.

Netherlands.

Erwtensoep, also called „snert“, is the Dutch version of pea soup. It is a thick stew of green split peas, different cuts of pork, celeriac or stalk celery, onions, leeks, carrots, and often potato. Slices of rookworst (smoked sausage) are added before serving. The soup, which is traditionally eaten during the winter, is emblematic of Dutch cuisine.

   The typical snert, served with cold bacon and rye bread.

It is customarily served with frisian rye bread (roggebrood) and bacon, cheese or butter. The bacon is usually katenspek, a variety of bacon which has been cooked and then smoked. Pancakes are sometimes served with pea soup. This dish is then called snert met struif, struif referring to the pancakes.

  Holland’s picnic – erwtensoup with hot bacon.

Scandinavia.

As Finland was until 1809 part of the Swedish Realm, Sweden and Finland, so as Danmark and Norway, share many cultural traditions, including that of the pea soup (Swedish „ärtsoppa“, Finnish „hernekeitto“, Norwegian „ertesuppe“, Danish „gule aerter“).

  Green, smooth pea soup with a dash of sour cream.

In Sweden and Finland it is traditional to eat pea soup on Thursdays, served with pork and mustard, and pancakes for dessert, in Sweden sometimes accompanied by Swedish punsch as beverage. In Finland the soup is made of green peas, in Sweden and Denmark are mostly yellow peas used.

   Pea soup made from yellow peas.

The tradition of eating pea soup and pancakes on Thursdays is said to originate in the pre-Reformation era, as preparation for fasting on Friday.
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 onions and herbs like thyme and marjoram. It is usually eaten with some mustard, often accompanied by crisp bread and often with the sweet liquor punsch (served hot).

  A very strange combination, but absolutely delicious.

Mustard is an important part of the dish, but the soup is served without it so that diners can stir it in to taste. The soup is then normally followed by pancakes with jam (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cloudberry or similar) which are regarded more as part of the meal than as a dessert. In Denmark, pea soup is not served with pancakes and the mustard is scooped up with rye bread on the side. In addition, the dish is sometimes served with medisterpoelse (sort of sausage), boiled potatoes and pickled beets and often turned into a feast, with copious amounts of beer and snaps on festive occasions.

Some nice pea soup recipes.

This is how I make it.
I always make portions for 6 to 8 people, it tastes better if you cook a very large pot of pea soup. And leftovers are easy to freeze for a long time.

  What can be better if winter time arrives ???

Ingredients.

1kg of dried green peas
6 liter water
400g bacon, good quality, not more then 50% fat
1 bunch of soup greens
250g yellow onions
350g carrots
600g potatoes, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
12 small sausages to your choice, Frankfurt’s, chorizo’s etc.
or 6-8 thick slices of kassler (smoked pork) with bone
4-6 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
3 large cubes of vegetable stock
salt and pepper

     Dried peas from El Granero (left) soaking in water over night (right).

How to do.

Soak the peas over night, then cook in the same water, about 90 minutes or til they are soft. Skim off the foam from time to time.
Add the bacon in big pieces after 50-60 minutes.
Meanwhile clean the soup green, carrots, onions and potatoes, but don’t cut them into pieces, leave them big.

    Let it simmer with lid on til everything is soft.

After 60-70 minutes add the vegetables, laurel and marjoram to the soup.
15min before the end of cooking time, peas must almost be soft, remove the bacon and cut into small pieces.
Then add the bacon pieces, the sausages or kassler to the soup.

  Thick pea soup with a slice of kassler and sausage.

Remove laurel leaves.
Remove the pieces of carrot, potato and onion and puree them to a coarse mash.
Puree the peas (soup) up to 60-70 %. Soup should still contain bity peas.
Add the potato, carrot, onion puree back to the soup.
Season all with salt, vinegar and pepper.

  Sometimes I like to saute the onions with a bit of bacon before adding to the soup.Gives the whole soup a smoky flavor. Just another variation.

Tips.

Dried peas in Uruguay are available at El Granero. German Kassler, the smoked pork is packed in 2 slices each at Tienda Inglesa .
If you take out the meat before serving you’ll have an excellent vegetarian dish.

With the same recipes you can replace the peas with lentils, beans or mix them.
Serve hot with some bread and butter and a nice strong beer.

  Less water and you have a mouthwatering pea stew.

Reheated, the soup will even taste better the next day.
Just double the ingredients if you want a larger amount.

The soup is also perfect to store in the freezer for meals to come.
It is great fun to decorate a plate for the kids, see down here.

  Great decorated pea soup for kids, they’ll love it.

The Swedish Combination.

Years ago we went to a Sunday picnic in the Swedish bush near Mora at the Siljan lake. We were camping in Mora and Swedish friends invited us. It was springtime, still cold (around 0 degree Celsius) and snow, but beautiful sunshine and we had the right clothes. The friends surprised us with the typical Swedish meal „Pea soup, Punsch, Pancake„.

  Cooking the pea soup and having hot punch.

Peasoup.

500 grams of dried yellow peas
2 liters of water
2 + 2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons marjoram
1 cube of vegetable stock
300-400 grams of salted pork
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons sweet (and coarse-grained) mustard (Swedish mustard is often sweetened), in Germany you can use the coarse sweet Weisswurst (white sausage) mustard.

   Stirring and waiting for a great soup.

Rinse and soak the peas along with 2 teaspoons salt for 6 – 12 hours or over night.
Boil fresh water with peas, pork, the remaining salt (don’t take all at once, remember the pork will add some salt too) and herbs.
Let simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours. Have a punch while you are waiting.
Remove the pork when tender and add the onions, whole.
Cut the pork into cubes and add at the end. Season with mustard (and salt) to taste.         Let it simmer for  another 30  minutes to 1 hour. Have another punch while waiting.
Taste the peas to make sure they are completely cooked and soft.
Serve with mustard on the side and a shot of hot (or chilled in summer time) punsch.

   Heartwarming meal on a cold camping day.

Punsch.

Punsch (not to be confused with punch) is a traditional liqueur in Sweden and Finland (known as punssi in Finnish), produced from arrack, other spirits (often brandy or rum), sugar and water. Bought ready made you can drink it cold or warm it up.

Kronan, one of the most well known punsch’s you can buy everywhere in Sweden.

The Swedish East India Company started to import arrack with the arrival of their ship Fredricus Rex Sueciae to Gothenburg in 1733. It quickly became popular, especially among the wealthy, who could afford the price of imported goods. Later it spread through all levels of society.

2 1/2 pints (1,5liter) hot tea
3/4 lb (500gram) sugar, it’s a lot sugar – I recommend to start with less and sweeten later
8 lemons
1 pint (600 ml) arrack
1/4 pint (150 ml) dark rum
1/4 pint (150 ml) brandy

A nice variation is – using orange instead lemon and spice up with staranis, clove, juniper and cinnamon. Or use good German „Gluehwein“ recipes instead.

Dissolve, in two and half pints of hot tea, half or three quarters of the sugar and the peel of four lemons. Then add the juice of eight lemons, and the alcohol.  Simmer a few minutes mix well and serve. Just for your information, the Swedish love „strong“ drinks.

Pancake.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (if you are at home).

  All the ingredients for a great feast.

4 x 500 gram rolls with rice porridge. I make it easy for myself and buy rolls with ready-made rice porridge, but of course you can cook your own.
4 eggs
300 ml of single cream
1 gram of saffron
50 ml sugar
1 tbs vanilla sugar
100 grams of finely chopped almonds

  They brought this cake warm from home.

Whisk eggs, cream and almonds mixed with sugar and vanilla sugar together.
Fold into the rice porridge and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased dish and bake for about 1 hour. Check with a stick that the cake has set and the stick comes out dry.
Cover with waxed paper or foil if the cake starts to get too much color.
Serve lukewarm with “Queen’s jam” (drottningsylt – a mixture of blueberries and raspberries) and whipped cream. Or of course with jams you have available.

  Any better then a saffron pancake with jam and cream ?

 

All that’s left is to say, “Det är jättegott!” (Swedish, “Yummy!”, literally „it’s delicious“).

 

    Found those „pea soup’s“ in Sweden (left) and in the US, from Germany, (right). Don’t use them, take the time and cook your own. It’s so easy and worth while.

  A difference against those artificial packages above.

France.

While the French are known for complicated cooking, their easy pea soup recipe evokes the flavors of the farmer’s market, but is as easy as a trip to your grocer’s freezer section. Made in less than twenty minutes, this savory French pea soup can be served hot or chilled, with sliced baguettes, for a distinctive soup course or light meal.

  How colorful is this one ? French pea soup decorated with pea sprigs. A vegetarian delight. „La soupe aux pois“ – this is for sure the most elegant pea soup variation. But in France they like light soups, as starters only. Other country’s have the pea soup as a main course.

 Ingredients.

2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
6 cups frozen peas
4 cups water
1/2 cup half and half
(half and half is a dairy product consisting of equal parts light cream and milk).
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

  Same soup for meat lovers, sprinkled with fresh crispy bacon crumbs. A tiny variation can be to cook this soup with some mint leaves – not to much, you don’t want that the mint taste is overpowering the peas.

How to do.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the chopped shallot in the butter until it is tender. Add the peas and water to the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook the peas for 8 to 12 minutes, until they are tender.
Puree the soup in a food processor, blender or with an immersion blender until the mixture is smooth. Stir the half and half, salt, and pepper into the soup and heat through.
Serve the pea soup hot or chilled.
This French pea soup recipe makes 4 to 6 servings. Or 2 for 2, freeze one !

Germans like their food rustic, some kind of ribald. That’s why this one down here …

  … is one of my absolute favorites. German pea soup with cooked kassler inside and fresh hot crispy bacon on top.  What a delicious feast ! Enjoy my friends !