Smoky Pease Pottage (aka Split Pea Soup)
EAT LIKE A PEASANT
Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old.
Once upon a time, peasants ate pottage. Like, aaaaaalll the time. “Pottage” is whatever grain was widely available, which could mean oats, barley, or peas, combined with any vegetables they had (frequently turnips) and any meat that was available (ham, poultry chunks, bits of mutton) cooked in a big heavy pot and simmered pretty much constantly, perpetually available for whatever dirt-speckled members of the household needed some hot sustenance. Polenta is pottage. Oatmeal is pottage. And split pea soup, aka “pease porridge”, “pease pudding” or “pease pottage” is the ultimate pottage, and when cold it can solidify into something so thick you can actually slice it, which is why you might come across references in Dickens books to people carrying “slices” of pease porridge in their pockets.
This version, which makes the most of the ham hock you may have left over from your holiday festivities (my ham replaced the turkey I am never enthusiastic about for Thanksgiving) incorporates smoked paprika, which emphasizes the smokiness of your ham, and a bit of black garlic or black garlic granules (optional, but worth it) to amp up the savoriness. With the amount of broth added, this recipe remains liquid enough to be a soup at fridge temperature, but if you want to experiment with sliceable pea soup for the benefit of the Victorian orphans in your life, feel free to reduce the liquid to 8 cups or so and see what happens.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 1
2 slices bacon
1 white/yellow onion,
chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
Generous splash or even 1/2 cup of white wine
1 Tbsp or more smoked paprika
1 tsp or more black garlic granules
1 tsp or more garlic powder
1 ham hock
1.5 lbs (680g) split peas
12 cups (2800ml) chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
DIRECTIONS
Cut the bacon into ribbons and fry in a very large Dutch oven or equivalent pottage cauldron until it begins to curl and render its fat.
Meanwhile, cut any remaining ham off the ham hock, cut into bite-size pieces, and set aside.
Add the onion, and sauté until it begins to turn gold. Add the shallots, sauté another couple of minutes until it too begins to turn gold, and then add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so until fragrant.
Add the carrots and celery, sauté for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the wine, and reduce. Be generous with your wine, this is the body of your soup.
Add the smoked paprika, black garlic, and garlic powder. Stir. To. Combine. This is where the smokiness of the soup comes from, so if at any point you taste it and think “this is not as smoky as it could be”, add more smoked paprika.
Add the ham hock. Make sure the ham hock touches the bottom of the pot and brown on all sides, turning it frequently. The vegetables will continue to cook on the sides of the pan.
Add the split peas.
Add the stock. Stir to combine.Throw in the bay leaf.
SIMMER: Bring it all to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour, sometimes two, depending on how long it takes your split peas to soften, and trust me, this is voodoo.
SKIM: Throughout the simmer, you will notice a bubbly scum rising to the top of your soup. This is fat, which contains off-flavors, impurities from the meat, etc. You should skim this off, a process made easier with a straining cup. Do this repeatedly, and at some point, your soup should be more or less clear and the split peas visible.
BLEND: When the split peas are soft, you can remove the ham hock and blend the soup a little bit with an immersion blender. This is not necessary, but if you want that smooth pea soup texture you should consider it. I would not blend it into a fine puree, because this is not the 70s.
Stir in the reserved ham pieces, bring all to temperature, and serve with crusty bread.
FACTOIDS:
• There is a village in England called “Pease Pottage” that supposedly got its name because they would serve pease pottage to convicts on their way to from London to the coast. It may also be because it is muddy. Whether or not either of these are true, they are both adorable.
• “Pease” is a mass noun, like “oatmeal” or “deer”, vs. “peas” which refers to “multiple peas.”
• The peas for split peas are the same green peas you find in other dishes, harvested and dried instead of served fresh.
• In the Netherlands, pea soup is called "snert", or "erwtensoep."
• An example of an individual eating a “slab” of pease pudding can be found in the charming Dickens Christmas story “The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain”. Read it here while your soup simmers.
• The dish is also popular with Dickensian waifs.
• Still simmering those peas? Watch this guy to amuse yourself.
