🇨🇦 Canada · Québec

Soupe aux poisQuébec yellow pea soup

Name: Soupe aux pois (Québec yellow pea soup)
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Canada
Ingredients: 500 g (2 1/2 cups (1 lb)) dried yellow split peas, rinsed; soaked overnight if possible; 2 l (8 cups) water; 250 g (1/2 lb) salt pork or smoked ham hock, salt pork blanched and diced; hock left whole; 2 large onions, chopped; 2 carrots, diced; 2 stalks celery, diced; 2 bay leaves; 4 tsp mixed dried herbs, parsley, thyme, savory, sage; chervil and sorrel if you have them; salt and black pepper, to taste; crusty bread, to serve

The traditional yellow pea soup of Québec and French Canada: yellow peas simmered a long time with salt pork or ham, onion, carrot and herbs, long served in homes and sugar shacks.

Origin and history

Soupe aux pois, yellow pea soup, is the traditional soup of Québec and French Canada. Dried peas and salt pork were basic provisions of New France: Parks Canada notes that French colonial soldiers of the 1750s were rationed bread, lard and dried peas. A Québec heritage magazine calls the soup of peas and pork probably the most important contribution of the French colony to traditional Québec cooking.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Hands-on: 30 min

Ingredients

Metric US

500 g2 1/2 cups (1 lb) dried yellow split peas, rinsed; soaked overnight if possible
2 l8 cups water
250 g1/2 lb salt pork or smoked ham hock, salt pork blanched and diced; hock left whole
2 large onions, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 bay leaves
4 tsp mixed dried herbs, parsley, thyme, savory, sage; chervil and sorrel if you have them
salt and black pepper, to taste
crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Drain the soaked peas. If you did not soak them, rinse them and expect a longer cooking time.
2. If using salt pork, cut it into small cubes and render it in a large heavy pot over medium heat until it gives up its fat.
3. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.
4. Add the peas, water, bay leaves and the ham hock if using. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam.
5. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring from time to time, until the peas fall apart and the soup is thick.
6. Lift out the ham hock, pull off the meat, chop it and return it to the pot.
7. Half an hour before serving, add the dried herbs. Season with salt (only at the end, as the pork is salty) and pepper.
8. Serve very hot with bread.

Notes

The traditional form is dried yellow peas, salted pork and herbs, cooked a long time until the soup is thick. Authentik Canada calls whole yellow peas the most authentic choice; split peas cook down faster and are more common today. Whole peas need overnight soaking.
Parks Canada's heritage recipe from Fort Chambly, a simplified version of one in Martin Fournier's Jardins et potagers en Nouvelle-France, uses 500 g of split peas, 250 g of salted lard, 1 onion, 1.5 litres of water and 20 g of dried herbs (parsley, thyme, chervil, savory, sage, sorrel), simmered about 2 hours with the herbs added for the last half hour. This recipe adds carrot and celery and a little more water, and a ham hock is the more usual home choice.
Salt pork can instead be chopped and returned to the soup after cooking, or sliced thin and served on the side.
Newfoundland pea soup is a related regional form with more vegetables, such as turnip and carrot, and small dumplings; Dutch snert uses smoked sausage and celeriac. They are different soups.
The soup thickens as it stands; thin it with water when reheating. It freezes well.

Adapted from Parks Canada, Fort Chambly pea soup, Authentik Canada, Gastronomie et recettes, and CooksInfo, Yellow pea soup.