flipYellow Split Pea Soup
Yellow Split Pea Soup
Why this dish? Hélène Dorion loves hot soups during Quebec's long winters, the simplicity that leaves the mind free. Pea soup, the quintessential domestic dish of French-Canadian cuisine, embodies this unceremonious table where thought can wander.
A thick potage of yellow split peas, flavored with salt pork and seasoned with salted herbs. It simmers for hours; it nourishes and warms without demanding anything of the cook.
Here, winter lasts so long that you learn to inhabit it like a blank page. I soak the peas the night before, and the next day the pot breathes softly on the fire while I write. A bit of salt pork, a pinch of salted herbs, and the house smells of time slowing down. I don't like fuss around the table: a steaming bowl, bread, and the mind stays free to wander where it will.
- •Dried yellow split peas — a large bowl (base of the potage)
- •Salt pork — one piece (fat and smoky-salty flavor)
- •Onion — one (aromatic)
- •Salted herbs from Bas-du-Fleuve — a good spoonful (Québécois seasoning)
- •Water — enough to cover generously (cooking liquid)
Yellow Split Pea Soup
A thick potage of yellow split peas, flavored with salt pork and seasoned with salted herbs. It simmers for hours; it nourishes and warms without demanding anything of the cook.
Why this dish? Hélène Dorion loves hot soups during Quebec's long winters, the simplicity that leaves the mind free. Pea soup, the quintessential domestic dish of French-Canadian cuisine, embodies this unceremonious table where thought can wander.
Here, winter lasts so long that you learn to inhabit it like a blank page. I soak the peas the night before, and the next day the pot breathes softly on the fire while I write. A bit of salt pork, a pinch of salted herbs, and the house smells of time slowing down. I don't like fuss around the table: a steaming bowl, bread, and the mind stays free to wander where it will.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried yellow split peas — a large bowl (base of the potage)
- Salt pork — one piece (fat and smoky-salty flavor)
- Onion — one (aromatic)
- Salted herbs from Bas-du-Fleuve — a good spoonful (Québécois seasoning)
- Water — enough to cover generously (cooking liquid)
Ingredients
- Dried yellow split peas — 350 g, soaked overnight (base of the potage)
- Salt pork or smoked bacon — 150 g (fat and umami)
- Onion — 1 large, chopped (aromatic)
- Carrot — 1, diced (sweetness)
- Salted herbs (or 1 tsp savory + salt) — 1 tbsp (seasoning)
- Water — 2 liters (cooking liquid)
- Pepper — to taste (lift)
Method
- Drain the soaked peas. Sauté the salt pork and onion in a large pot.
- Add the peas, carrot, salted herbs, and water.
- Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer on low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- When the peas break down, mash some with a spoon to thicken. Adjust salt and pepper.
- Serve very hot with country bread.
How it was made : Inherited from the pea soups of 17th-century French colonists, it became a staple of the Québécois family table, simmered all winter on the wood stove. "Salted herbs"—fine herbs preserved in salt—are a typical seasoning from the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of cream and a few maple bread croutons; serve in a thick bowl held in both hands, like a poem to be reread.
Hélène Dorion · Charactorium
