An Excellent Green Peas Soup

History

The tradition of the thick, pureed pea soup finds its earliest formalization in the potages of medieval and Renaissance France. These early versions were often hearty, rustic preparations of dried legumes, designed to sustain laborers and nobility alike, though they typically lacked the vibrant green color of the fresh-pea variations that emerged as gardening techniques improved in the early modern period.

By the 18th century, the dish evolved into a more sophisticated culinary exercise in the courts of Europe, moving away from the 'pease pudding' style toward a smooth, strained cream. The introduction of the 'velouté' technique—thickening a stock with a roux or the vegetable's own starch—allowed for the creation of a luxurious, silky texture that became a hallmark of the haute cuisine of the Enlightenment era.

In the mid-19th century, the dish became a staple of the British middle-class table, where it was adapted to suit the preference for clear, rich stocks. Eliza Acton's 1845 work, Modern Cookery for Private Families, documents this transition, emphasizing the use of beef or veal stock and the specific addition of carbonate of soda to maintain a bright, 'elegant' green color that would otherwise fade during the boiling process.

Ingredients

• 3 pints fine large green peas
• 1/2 teaspoonful carbonate of soda
• 2 quarts beef or veal stock
• 1 small teaspoonful pounded sugar
• salt

Instructions

1. Select peas at their fullest size but before they become discoloured or worm-eaten.
2. Boil the peas with half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda in the water to keep them very green, until quite tender (25 to 30 minutes or more).
3. Drain the peas well.
4. Put the drained peas into a couple of quarts of boiling pale but good beef or veal stock.
5. Stew them gently in the stock for half an hour.
6. Work the whole through a fine hair-sieve into a clean pan.
7. Bring it to the point of boiling.
8. Add salt if needed and a small teaspoonful of pounded sugar.
9. Clear off the scum entirely.
10. Serve the soup as hot as possible.
11. For an elegant variety, add a half pint more of stock to the peas and about three quarters of a pint of asparagus points that have been boiled apart and well drained.
12. Add the asparagus only the instant before the soup is sent to the table.