Erbsensuppe — split pea soup with bacon and caraway
A dense soup, almost a puree, where split peas melt to envelop bacon bits and caraway. One bowl is enough to sustain half a day's work in the Prussian cold. The simplest and most honest dish of Berlin.
A dense soup, almost a puree, where split peas melt to envelop bacon bits and caraway. One bowl is enough to sustain half a day's work in the Prussian cold. The simplest and most honest dish of Berlin.
Listen, friend: you don't make music on an empty stomach, and the man who held the trowel before the baton will tell you that. At home in Berlin, we let the peas cook until they are no longer peas but golden porridge, then we toss in the bacon and a pinch of caraway — without that, no digestion! I ate this on scaffolding before I ate it in front of my score, and believe me, a full stomach sings truer than a hungry heart. A good bowl of this, a hunk of dark bread, and you're set for the day.
- •Yellow split peas — a good bowlful (base of the soup)
- •Smoked bacon — a piece (fat and umami)
- •Onion — one (aromatic base)
- •Caraway (Kümmel) — a pinch (signature, digestion)
- •Parsley root or parsnip — as needed (root vegetable)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Erbsensuppe — split pea soup with bacon and caraway
A dense soup, almost a puree, where split peas melt to envelop bacon bits and caraway. One bowl is enough to sustain half a day's work in the Prussian cold. The simplest and most honest dish of Berlin.
Why this dish? Before becoming a choirmaster, Zelter was a mason by trade, like his father: the square and trowel among his objects remind us of this. Thick pea soup was THE dish of Berlin artisans and laborers, eaten from mess tins on construction sites. Zelter, a rugged man who remained close to the common people, never disowned this hearty cuisine that his letters evoke.
Listen, friend: you don't make music on an empty stomach, and the man who held the trowel before the baton will tell you that. At home in Berlin, we let the peas cook until they are no longer peas but golden porridge, then we toss in the bacon and a pinch of caraway — without that, no digestion! I ate this on scaffolding before I ate it in front of my score, and believe me, a full stomach sings truer than a hungry heart. A good bowl of this, a hunk of dark bread, and you're set for the day.
Ingredients (period version)
- Yellow split peas — a good bowlful (base of the soup)
- Smoked bacon — a piece (fat and umami)
- Onion — one (aromatic base)
- Caraway (Kümmel) — a pinch (signature, digestion)
- Parsley root or parsnip — as needed (root vegetable)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Yellow split peas — 300 g (base of the soup)
- Smoked bacon lardons — 150 g (fat and umami)
- Onion — 1 large (aromatic base)
- Caraway seeds — 1 tsp (signature, digestion)
- Parsnip — 1 (root vegetable)
- Water or broth — 1.2 L (cooking liquid)
- Salt and pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Soak the split peas for 2 to 4 hours (optional but speeds up cooking).
- Sauté the bacon lardons in the pot, add the diced onion and parsnip.
- Add the drained peas, water or broth, and caraway.
- Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes on low heat, until the peas fall apart.
- Roughly mash some of the peas to thicken, season with salt and pepper, and serve piping hot with rye bread.
How it was made : Pea soup was an institution in 18th-century Prussia, so much so that the Prussian army later issued 'Erbswurst' (dehydrated pea sausage) to soldiers. On construction sites and in modest households, it was cooked for hours in a cast-iron pot hung over the hearth.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of Brandenburg mustard and a few croutons rubbed with toasted caraway to awaken the bowl.
Carl Friedrich Zelter · Charactorium