Parks Canada Heritage Gourmet Recipes

Fort Témiscamingue Traditional Pea Soup

Delicious served with bread or bannock

Origin: Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site
Region: Quebec
Period: Traditional
Course: Soups and Starters

At the Voyageurs' Dinner special activity – where we serve this traditional pea soup – one of our staff will shout, “Hey! It's time to add a log to the fire. » He or she will throw the wood absentmindedly into the soup pot and someone else will say: « Eh! Not in the soup... but in the fire, silly.” Everyone laughs and the interpreter realizes his or her error and puts the log on the fire. He continues to stir the soup as if nothing had happened and the pea (and log) soup is tasted by everyone with a few grains of sand and bits of bark. A true voyageur's soup!

Story : Marlyn Rannou, Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site

Fort Témiscamingue Traditional Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups | 500 ml dried peas
• 1 onion
• ½ lb | 227 g salt pork, cut in cubes [to taste]
• 1 peeled carrot, cut in small cubes
• 1 stalk of celery, whole or in small cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 cups | 2 litres water
• pinch of savory, to taste

Directions:

• Rinse the peas in cold water, drain them and transfer them to a large pot. Chop the onion and add it to the peas with the cubes of salt pork, carrot, celery and bay leaf. Add the water to the pot. Season the soup with savory, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring from time to time and adding water if the soup becomes too thick. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.

Credits:

Recipe tested by Chef Steve Price, Algonquin College School of Hospitality and Tourism

This traditional recipe was submitted by Parks Canada employee Marlyn Rannou of Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site