Split pea soup 9 February 2007, 21:33

Split pea soup, February 6, 2007

Well, it wasn’t the one Dad used to make. For one thing, it’s got the salt pork in it. It also wasn’t the stand-a-spoon-up-in-it thick soup full of visible peas, studded with soft carrots. Or a very lemony, dal-like, hippie lentil soup.

The soup I made was more of a puree, and that was unexpected. Due to some cooking blind spots I have, I’m not used to quite a few of the norms of Joy. So this is what happens. The method included instructions to cool and skim the soup, then put it through a sieve. Not having one handy, I blended it in batches (2 and a half blendersful!) and got a good result, smooth but with a few leaves of dried thyme and the occasional pea sprout visible.

I’m not sure if I was to soak the split peas overnight; the packaging didn’t specify to, but I did just to be on the safe side. I’ve got the lentils for another go (same recipe), but next time maybe less cooking, and visible legumes.

Memories include the classic Dutch winter erwtesoep, thick and stuffed with ham and sausage, and the French lentil side dish with goose fat. In the words of Textism:

Rendered duckfat is right below butter and cream in the canonical hierarchy of reasons why a fat-free diet is for knobs.

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