SPLIT PEA SOUP !

[Puffer]

Split Pea Soup  (old English name = pease porridge) was a mainstay in the diet of the Voyageurs, both the "pork eaters" (called that because they were issued pork) & the "north men" (who were not - they were issued pemmican & they also hunted { note - the pork eaters  were seasonal workers employed mostly during the summer months. They would overwintered were called hommes du nord (northern men) or hivernants (winterers). Those who were neither primarily travelled the interior (beyond Grand Portage) without wintering in it. They would pick up the goods from Lake Superior and transport them inland over large distances.

 Every night a cook from each canoe poured about nine quarts of peas in their kettle, added a strip of bacon or pork (if they had it) and lake water and hung it on a tripod over the fire to simmer until daylight. In the morning four biscuits were crumbled and added to thicken it, enough so that the stirring spoon stood straight up. Now filling the kettle to the brim, the pea porridge provided two full meals that day for the eight to 12 men in the canoe. They paddled for a hour or so before stopping for breakfast; supper came about 8 p.m.

But Pea Soup was Also a meal often enjoyed at the Posts & in the field.

I love Pea Soup & often cook it. Here is a recipe I like  =

Split Pea Soup Dutch Oven Recipe
Ingredients:
2 quarts water
1 lb dry split peas
1 small-medium onion
3 carrots (optional)
3 potatoes (or biscuits )
1/2  lb ham (more = better IMO)
1 lb bacon
1 Tbsp minced garlic)

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Eat with Corn Bread



 

[Spotted Bull]

I'm gonna use that recipe soon!

[Bigsmoke]

Me too, Bull.  In the meantime, I will go down to Anderson's Split Pea Restaurant.  As the name implies, they have some Split Pea Soup.  Mighty good, I will add.  The bummer is it is a vegan recipe, so all the good stuff is left out.
Thanks for the recipe, Puffer.  Looks great !!!

[Oldetexian]

Hey Puffer.

Great background to what appears to be an excellent recipe! Like Bull, I will be trying this out sooner rather than later...

I love split pea soup, and I think it is period correct to carry dried peas as part of my vittles while trekking. That means this will be a part of my camp fare at the next event I attend.

Again, thanks!

[Winter Hawk]

I LOVE pea soup.  Unfortunately, my Sweetie doesn't so if I want any I have to make it for myself.

My college room mate at U of Alaska grew up on a homestead in the Matanuska Valley.  He told of his father running a trap line and making up large batches of pea soup which he would pour in cake pans and set outside to freeze.  Once the soup started to congeal, he would cut it into blocks, then refresh the scored lines every so often until it was frozen.  He could then break the blocks loose and carry them to warm  for meals as he ran his line.

~Kees~

[Puffer]

 

[doggoner]

As a kid growing up in the fourties, my mom cooked an excellent split pea soup. On the tulle fog days (winter time) in the central valley of california when the fog had chilled you to the bone, as only it can, a bowl of that soup warmed you through and through. Fond memories. I've copied your recipe and a pot will be cooking if we ever get some cool weather here in Mississippi. By the by, I only cook my corn bread in a cast iron skillet. It just doesn't taste the same from a tin pan. The crust just isn't there like in a cast iron skillet. Thank you for sharing.

doggoner

[Uncle Russ]

As a kid growing up in the fourties, my mom cooked an excellent split pea soup. On the tulle fog days (winter time) in the central valley of california when the fog had chilled you to the bone, as only it can, a bowl of that soup warmed you through and through. Fond memories. I've copied your recipe and a pot will be cooking if we ever get some cool weather here in Mississippi. By the by, I only cook my corn bread in a cast iron skillet. It just doesn't taste the same from a tin pan. The crust just isn't there like in a cast iron skillet. Thank you for sharing.

doggoner

Same here Dennis....back in the 40's, following the Depression, my family ate a lot of Split-Pea Soup. And it was delicious.

Like others here, I will be making a pot myself pretty soon using this same recipe.
With a few snowflakes falling, but nothing on the ground yet, it will be a great time to get started......there's plenty of snow on the Mountain Passes according to the News, and I can see the mountains from my back door.
It does look cold up there, and that's good enough reason for me.

[Spotted Bull]

With a few snowflakes falling, but nothing on the ground yet, it will be a great time to get started......there's plenty of snow on the Mountain Passes according to the News, and I can see the mountains from my back door.
It does look cold up there, and that's good enough reason for me.

Uncle Russ its still in the 90's during the day here...

[Nessmuk]

Here too. Dang it!!

[Oldetexian]

I LOVE pea soup.  Unfortunately, my Sweetie doesn't so if I want any I have to make it for myself.

My college room mate at U of Alaska grew up on a homestead in the Matanuska Valley.  He told of his father running a trap line and making up large batches of pea soup which he would pour in cake pans and set outside to freeze.  Once the soup started to congeal, he would cut it into blocks, then refresh the scored lines every so often until it was frozen.  He could then break the blocks loose and carry them to warm  for meals as he ran his line.

~Kees~

Great story, and great idea. Wish I was in Alaska right now. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

[Winter Hawk]

Wish I was in Alaska right now. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

Me too!  I never expected to be living in Ohio.  Life throws funny curves at you, that's for sure.

~Kees~