On 2016-01-30 2:38 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

>
>
> You made me look it up. Never heard of French Canadian pea soup
>
> Soupe aux pois (jaunes) (yellow pea soup) is a traditional dish in
> Canadian cuisine. This split pea soup is very popular nationwide, but
> originated in Québécois cuisine. One source[7] says "The most authentic
> version of Quebec's soupe aux pois use whole yellow peas, with salt
> pork, and herbs for flavour. After cooking, the pork is usually chopped
> and returned to the soup, or sometimes removed to slice thinly and
> served separately... Newfoundland Pea Soup is very similar, but usually
> includes more vegetables such as diced turnips and carrots, and is often
> topped with small dumplings called dough boys or doughballs."


I make it frequently. I start by sweating some diced onion, celery and
carrot in a little oil. Then I toss in the peas, a smoked ham hock and
some bay leave and grinds some pepper into it. Do not salt until later
because there is salt int he ham hock. Cover with water and simmer for
a few hour. After a couple hours you can removed the ham hock, remove
and discard the skin. Then strip all the meat off the bones, cut it up
into little pieces and toss them into the pot. Keep cooking it until it
the peas are pretty well mush. You make have to add a little water later
on.

FWIW, Habitant pea soup was almost a stable in most households when I
was a kid. It came in a large can. Unlike Campbells and other condensed
soups, there is no water added, even though it had the consistency of
condensed soup.


> The other soups look good too. I'd go to that lunch.
I had been hearing about it for years. Some of us were talking about the
soups later and no one would commit to a favourite. They were all
excellent.