Ärtsoppa

Sweden's Thursday yellow pea soup, whole peas simmered with salted pork, onion, and marjoram, served with mustard and followed by pancakes

Origin: Sweden

From the journey of Pea.

Few dishes anywhere have kept their appointed day in the week as faithfully as Swedish ärtsoppa. This thick, golden soup of whole yellow peas and salted pork has been eaten on Thursdays in Sweden since at least the Middle Ages, and it is still served on Thursdays in the armed forces, in school and workplace canteens, and in homes across the country, a weekly ritual of extraordinary tenacity. The custom is usually traced to the Catholic calendar: with Friday a day of fasting, a substantial pea soup on Thursday evening fortified the household before the lean day to come. When Sweden turned Protestant under Gustav Vasa in the 1520s and the Friday fast lapsed, the Thursday pea soup simply stayed. Unlike the split peas of the Dutch or English traditions, Swedish ärtsoppa is classically made from whole dried yellow peas, which keep a little more of their shape, and it is more soup than purée. It is built simply: peas simmered with a piece of salted or lightly cured pork, onion, and the herbs marjoram and thyme, until the peas are soft and the broth golden and savoury. The pork is then sliced and either served in the soup or alongside, and the soup is eaten with a dollop of strong Swedish mustard stirred in at the table. The meal has a fixed and beloved sequel: ärtsoppa is always followed by thin Swedish pancakes (pannkakor) with lingonberry or other jam and whipped cream, and traditionally accompanied by a small glass of warm spiced arrack punsch. Soup, then pancakes, every Thursday: a small, sustaining liturgy of the Swedish week.

Ingredients

Soup

  • 500 g whole dried yellow peas, rinsed and soaked overnight
  • 2 l water
  • 400 g lightly salted pork shoulder or smoked bacon, in a piece (or a ham hock)
  • 2 piece onions, one studded with 2 cloves, one chopped

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • 0.5 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp salt, to taste (less if the pork is very salty)
  • 0.5 tsp freshly ground white pepper

To serve

  • 2 tbsp Swedish strong mustard, to serve

Method

  1. Drain the soaked peas. If any loose skins float free, skim them off (some cooks remove the skins for a smoother soup). Put the peas in a large pot with the water.
  2. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam carefully. Add the piece of pork, the whole clove-studded onion, the chopped onion, marjoram, and thyme.
  3. Lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered, for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the peas are soft (some will collapse and thicken the soup, some stay whole) and the pork is tender.
  4. Lift out the pork and the clove-studded onion. Discard the onion. Slice or dice the pork, removing any rind, and return it to the soup (or serve it on a separate plate, the traditional way).
  5. Season the soup with salt and white pepper to taste. Serve very hot, with strong mustard to stir in at the table.
  6. Follow the soup, in the proper Swedish manner, with thin pancakes (pannkakor) and lingonberry jam.

Notes

Swedish yellow peas (gula ärter) give the classic colour and texture; whole, not split, is traditional, though split yellow peas can be used for a smoother, faster soup. Some recipes add a little fresh thyme and a splash of the pork stock for richness. The soup keeps and reheats very well and, like most pea soups, tastes even better the next day.

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