The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Food logger
Wendy Barrie is founder of the award-winning Scottish Food Guide
A traditional Scandinavian favourite
Yellow pea soup has been a tradition since medieval times in Sweden, originally served as a nutritious Thursday supper prior to non-meat Fridays in line with their religious beliefs. The custom of Thursday pea soup is still popular in many households, at school lunches and in the army mess – always with pancakes, whipped cream and jam for afters.
Serve with a wee dram of sweet liqueur
Traditionally, the soup is served with Skansk mustard. However we also enjoy it with Galloway wholegrain mustard when in Scotland.
As it is based on cured pork and yellow peas it makes sense to cook a large batch when I have just boiled a Ramsay ham as I then have two litres of ham stock, a perfect base for the soup, with some ham trimmings added. If not, you can improvise by boiling a pork bone in the pot, giving you stock with meat to shred off the bone.
Frying a few chopped rashers of bacon with the onions at the start also works if you do not have a bone, then add only water, never commercial stock, and season more generously.
How to go about making your soup
To make this you will need: 600g yellow split peas (available at Ardross Farm Shop) soaked in a bowl of cold water overnight; 2L ham stock; 2 large onions, peeled & chopped; A generous scrunch of dried marjoram leaves; Freshly milled black pepper; Skansk or wholegrain mustard – added for garnish and served at the side; Summer Harvest rapeseed oil; 75-100g cooked ham, chopped or shredded.
To make it, add a drizzle of rapeseed oil to a large soup pan and soften chopped onions with the marjoram over a medium heat.
Season with pepper but no salt as there is ample in the stock.
Add ham stock and bring to the boil. Add the drained yellow split peas, stirring.
Maintain a rapid simmer, lid on for an hour or so, stirring from time to time until the peas are soft. When ready, add chopped ham and heat through.
Serve with mustard to taste and a wee dram. Serves 6-8.