Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cups split peas
125g bacon
6 cups boiling water
3 tsp stock powder
A dash of cayenne pepper
Method:
I half fried the bacon and used the oil to fry the chopped onion so I didn't add any extra oil. When the onions where browned I added the bacon (now chopped) back in with all the split peas and water. I only ended up adding the stock powder at the end- I think that extra salt might influence the cooking of legumes, but I'm not sure about the credibility of that...
Cayenne pepper is probably my most favourite spice and even ends up in dishes that aren't supposed to tingle the tongue (not that it dis in this case, it just adds another dimension to the taste).
Simmer that all on a medium heat for half an hour to an hour. The split peas should be cooked by now (test a couple). Reduce it for about 5 minutes and while the soup is still hot add it to a blended and blend it before it cools (and becomes all thick and starts challenging your blenders motor). If necessary, add it back to the pot to reheat and enjoy it garnished with some cheese, such as feta on the top, a dash of cayenne pepper and perhaps some toasty garlic bread.
A Note on The History of Pea Soup
While pea soup seems mostly an English sort of dish, it was being sold in the streets of Athens as far back as 500 - 400BC and cultivated by the Romans as well as the Greeks!
Split peas are cheap (and could, in olden day England be seen as a sign of poverty), easy to store and if kept dry, can last a decent while. This made them a common meal for sailors- accompanied by salted pork.
It also used to be referred to "pease pudding" or "pease porridge" back in the 1700's in England because of it's consistency, as mentioned in the 1765 rhyme:
Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old
It's consistency also inspired the London Fog, or London Particular to be called "Pea Soup". The smog caused by the burning of coal covered urban areas in a thick layer and claimed a substantial amount of deaths particularly in the early 20th century until the Clean Air Act was put into place in 1956, prohibiting the domestic burning of coal in urban areas.
