Hernekeitto
Finnish yellow split pea soup simmered with onion and carrot, scented with marjoram and served with strong mustard on the side.
Photo : Tiia Monto · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 100 min
- Total
- 115 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Rinse the peas and cover them with 1.5 l cold water. Leave to soak overnight.
- Bring the peas to the boil in their soaking water. Skim the grey foam that rises during the first five minutes.
- Lower the heat, add the bay leaves and simmer covered for 1 hour. The peas should crush under a fork.
- Sweat the onion and carrot in the oil for 8 minutes, then tip them into the pan.
- Cook for another 30 minutes. Crush a quarter of the peas against the side of the pan to thicken the soup.
- Add the salt and marjoram off the heat at the end. Fish out the bay leaves.
- Serve in deep bowls with a pot of strong mustard that each person stirs into their own spoonful.
Finns eat this soup on Thursdays, a habit traced to medieval monasteries that cooked a filling dish before the Friday fast. Salt goes in at the end for a reason: added early, it toughens the skins of the peas and stops them softening.
