To do: Make Pea Soup like you’re a French explorer.
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: Ingredients listed below
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What do you take on a journey by ship to a different continent? Dried pea for Canadian Pea Soup of course! That’s what one Canadian chef discovered when he began investigating what early Canadian explorers ate over 400 years ago.Here’s the full story.

Try Canadian Pea Soup with your family this week, and speak about how hardy these ingredients are. Split peas are great to take on an adventure, as long as you have a pot and access to water too. P.S. Split peas work great to use for transferring work for young children.

Here is Chef Marc Miron’s recipe:

1 lb (450 g) dried yellow split peas
Half a medium white onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
9½ cups (2.25 L) ham stock
2 tbsp (25 mL) fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 cup (250 mL) ham hock meat
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Check peas for small stones and discard discolored ones.
2. In a heavy soup pot, sweat the diced onion, celery and carrots in the canola oil.
3. Add ham stock and dried peas, bring to a boil, then simmer, skimming foam from the top to remove impurities, until vegetables and split peas are tender. Add the thyme.
4. In a blender, purée half of the soup, then return mixture to the pot. Add the ham hock meat and adjust the seasoning. (When cooking split peas and lentils, Miron waits until the dish is almost done before adding salt and pepper to taste.) Garnish soup with croutons and a sprig of fresh thyme if desired.