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Peas Soup

A hearty soup made from split peas, broth, vegetables, herbs, and optional anchovy essence, served with toasted bread and powdered mint.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Peas Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the split peas in cold water and place them in a saucepan.

  2. Add the broth or cold soft water, carrot, celery, onions, thyme, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne.

Simmer and strain

  1. Simmer gently over low heat for about 3 hours, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

  2. Strain and press the mixture through a coarse sieve.

  3. If not using pickled pork or bacon, mix in the essence of anchovy, dripping or butter, and a little salt.

  4. Continue to simmer for another hour, stirring well.

Serve

  1. Strain into a soup tureen and serve with toasted bread and powdered mint on the side.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Lemon + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together957 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Split peas
Break down during long simmering to thicken the soup and give it body.
Broth
Provides the liquid base and savory flavor for the soup.
Dripping or butter
Adds fat for a richer mouthfeel and rounder flavor.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth as they soften in the liquid.

The step that matters

Stirring during the long simmer. Split peas are starchy and settle on the bottom of the pan, where they scorch easily. Frequent stirring over low heat prevents sticking and burnt flavor, and keeps the soup smooth.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, carrot, celery, onion, lemon, thyme, marjoram):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, carrot, celery, onion, lemon, thyme, marjoram. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More pea soup recipes

Green 380Split 228Baked Split 20Creamed 13Dried 10Winter 9 See all 368 →

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