Hrachová Kaše

The homely Czech yellow split pea purée, beaten smooth with butter and crowned with deep-fried golden onions

Origin: Moravia, Czechia

From the journey of Pea.

Hrachová kaše, a thick purée of yellow split peas topped with crisp fried onions, is one of the quiet classics of the Czech kitchen, eaten across Bohemia and Moravia as a humble, warming everyday dish. It is the Central European cousin of pease pudding and erwtensoep, the dried pea in its plainest and most comforting form: peas cooked soft, beaten smooth with butter and a little garlic, seasoned simply with salt, marjoram, and pepper, and finished with a generous heap of onions fried to a deep, sweet gold. It is served as a main course with dark bread and a pickle, or as a substantial side with smoked or roast pork and sausages. But Moravia holds a far greater claim on the pea than this good plain dish. In the garden of the Abbey of Saint Thomas in Brno, the Moravian capital, the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel grew and crossed some twenty-eight thousand pea plants between 1856 and 1863, tracking simple either-or traits across the generations, and from the ratios he counted he deduced the discrete laws of inheritance that founded the science of genetics. He chose the garden pea precisely because it offered clear contrasting traits, could be pollinated by hand, and grew quickly. The pea is thus not only Moravia's homely supper but the very organism through which life first learned to read its own rules: every modern understanding of heredity begins in a Brno monastery garden, amongst the rows of Pisum sativum. That a region should give the world both a beloved pea purée and the science of the gene from the same small plant is one of the quiet pleasures of the pea's long history.

Ingredients

Purée

400 g yellow split peas, rinsed
1.2 l water
2 piece garlic cloves, crushed
40 g butter

Seasoning

1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp salt, or to taste
0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fried onions

2 piece large onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp butter or lard (for frying the onions)

Method

Put the rinsed split peas in a pot with the water and the crushed garlic. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer gently, partly covered, for 45 to 55 minutes, until the peas are completely soft and most of the water has been absorbed.
Beat the cooked peas to a thick, smooth purée with a spoon, masher, or stick blender, working in the 40 g butter, the marjoram, salt, and pepper. Loosen with a little hot water if it is stiffer than a soft mashed-potato consistency.
While the peas cook, fry the onions: melt the butter or lard in a wide pan and cook the sliced onions over a medium heat, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes, until deeply golden, sweet, and crisp at the edges.
Spoon the hot pea purée into bowls or onto plates and heap the golden fried onions generously over the top.
Serve hot, as a main course with dark rye bread and a sharp pickle, or as a side with smoked pork, roast pork, or sausages.

Notes

Hrachová kaše is naturally vegetarian (use butter, not lard, to keep it so). It sets very firm as it cools and is sometimes sliced and pan-fried the next day. Some cooks add fried smoked bacon or sausage to make it a heartier main; the fried onion topping, however, is never optional.

The Gastrographer

Name: Hrachová Kaše
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Czechia
Ingredients: 400 g yellow split peas, rinsed; 1.2 l water; 2 piece garlic cloves, crushed; 40 g butter; 1 tsp dried marjoram; 1 tsp salt, or to taste; 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2 piece large onions, thinly sliced; 3 tbsp butter or lard (for frying the onions)

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control