Pea soup

I'm fairly new here so I may be posting this in the wrong forum, However, that being said, I'm curious as to opinions of the "famous" Andersen's Pea Soup restaurants' pea soup (duh!!!). A few years ago, we held off our hunger pangs for about 200 miles anxiously awaiting the taste of the heavily advertised ( every mile or two) pea soup. Could hardly wait . The first taste was.......................................
 
Mark

pea-like?

It was green but tasteless. Vegetable based with no meat. Only in Kalifornia would pea soup be made without a meaty ham bone .    
 
Mark                                                                                                 

Andersen's Pea Soup in Buelton CA is legendary, I have passed it maybe 50 times on my trips to Solvang, Santa Barbara, Central or No Cal from the L A area. I tried it once and thought it was severely over rated, I guess if one is a fan of pea soup it is good but neither my wife, my children or grand children like pea soup

Why would one stop to have pea soup  if they do not like pea soup?

You're not a fan of pea soup and you consider their pea soup overrated?

Greymo


Why would one stop to have pea soup  if they do not like pea soup?

I think because jonjax71 is a Roadfooder.  That is what we do, sample the best, even when it is not on the top of our list of favorite foods.

I have to disagree with you on this.  A Roadfooder does not go out and taste test foods that they do not like.............it certainly would make for an unfair observation.  I  do not like okra so there is no way  that I would  consider judging   okra presentations at any  Roadfood restaurant . 

Loved it as a kid.  Not so much now.

Greymo


Why would one stop to have pea soup  if they do not like pea soup?

Um, because they really had to pea?

It's like all the advertising for Wall Drugs in South Dakota. You see the signs about once every mile and you have to stop whether you like it or not. I've never been but I've seen it on the Food Channel and the Travel Channel so, yes, it's probably overrated.

JRPfeff

Greymo


Why would one stop to have pea soup  if they do not like pea soup?

I think because jonjax71 is a Roadfooder.  That is what we do, sample the best, even when it is not on the top of our list of favorite foods.

 
First I am not closed minded, I am willing to take another shot at liking something. After all the buzz surrounding Andersen's pea soup by our friends, writers, consumer and its legendary status in Calif, plus since we would pass it once or twice a year, we finally broke down and stopped at the location to give it a try. Perhaps it would change our mind about pea soup, we were hungry and besides the soup we were sure we would find other items on the menu to eat
 
We ordered one bowl of the pea soup along with our lunch choices and between my wife and I we had several spoonfuls each before we passed on the rest. We both agreed that it was not our cup of tea but we could see where those that like pea soup would like this style. We'd rather have cream of chick pea soup- especially when made with Spanish chorizos
 

 

<<You're not a fan of pea soup and you consider their pea soup overrated?

Why not? I don't see anything contradictory in that kind of statement. For example I'm not big on pies and cakes, but I will willingly go to a bakery or pie shop if it is getting good press and I think I can distinguish a good pie or cake from an overrated one.

Getting back to Pea Soup Anderson's, I mail-ordered thier soup years ago from the Food Finds book and I was not impressed. Granted, that's not the same thing as eating it on site, but I think if they were willing to put their name on it, it could have been better.

My Mom would get us to stop everytime we passed the place on coastal California rides. She loved the stuff. I prefer Pea Soup that is approaching "fork-use" thickness with chunks of Pig in it. As a result, Mother would slurp her soup and I would have some pie or other bakery sweet.
There is room in this forum for varied opinions about almost anything...Why can't we all recognize that our opinion/evaluation may not match that of others, but all have merit...except Hoffmans, and his is wrong no matter what it is.

I'll put my two cents in by saying about two weeks ago I made a pea soup with a stock made from fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices and it was very flavorful.  I did add chunks of leftover Christmas ham about the last 45 mins. of cooking. 

My problem was the peas - Camellia brand which I'm used to, was sold off the shelf, and I ended up with Wal-Mart generic, thinking peas are peas but obviously not, and I think I got a bag of old ones, as it took so looong to cook even with the peas having soaked for most of the day before cooking. 

I remember the last time I ate pea soup. I was probably 6 or 7 and mom made it for dinner, so I had to eat it. I got a few bites in and it all found its way back into the bowl.

That being said, I'd like to try it again, as a lot of food I hated as a youngster I've grown to like, and Mayor Al's description of the type of pea soup he favors sounds good to me.

mayor al


My Mom would get us to stop everytime we passed the place on coastal California rides. She loved the stuff. I prefer Pea Soup that is approaching "fork-use" thickness with chunks of Pig in it. As a result, Mother would slurp her soup and I would have some pie or other bakery sweet.
...

So the pea soup wasn't as thick as fog?
Sorry, but someone had to say it.

My mom made a great split pea soup w/ ham. I still love that when it is made correctly. I have never had any I liked at a restaurant. :~(
Joe

Funny you should mention Pea Soup! By chance, I had Pea Soup for lunch today at the hospital cafeteria at Barrows Neurological Center in Phoenix, (3rd Av & Thomas). I consider myself a Pea Soup expert and this made from scratch soup was a 10! A big bowl for only $2.25 was a bargain! I often eat at hospital cafeterias because the food is usually very good and reasonably priced! 

Our HS cafeteria in Upstate NY (1968-72) had a 'Soup Pot' in the faculty dining room. They would alternate the type of soup served, but often it would be Split Pea.  On Monday when the pot was first put out for the week, the soup would be fairly thin (watery). By Wed. it had a pretty good consistency, and whatever was left on Friday was,indeed, 'fork-use thick'. I really loved that soup on a cold winter day! They did refrigerate the remains each day after the lunch period!

I like Anderson's and have enjoyed the soup when I've stopped. They used to sell a canned version in the stores which I also liked.

Is this split pea soup, made w/ dried split peas, that yall are talking about?
Joe

PJ8
Yes.
AL

I enjoy the taste of almost any pea soup with pig but like most legumes, they do cause me issues.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Go to goggle and google up a good recipe for split pea soup.

____I Did It My Way Pea Soup. 

Easy and g-o-o-d.

Thanks Al! I wonder why I am the only one that calls it "split pea".

Paul, some say that if you eat legumes on a regular basis... the problems will subside. Anyone know for sure???

Ancient one, that "my way" soup sounds good. Way different than the split peas soup I was asking about. Oh, that was Paul who wrote that "my way" song... but he wrote it for Frank.
Joe

Paul Anka wrote it for Franky Baby.
And Franky sang it beautifully 
And now it is the name of a green split pea soup---
What goes around comes around Papa Joe. 
But that is g-o-o-d soup----try it with some crusty bread. 

Ancient one, It's on my list of new things to cook... thanks! And yes... Franky sang it REAL good! Paul dosen't do a bad job singing it.
Joe

PapaJoe8


Is this split pea soup, made w/ dried split peas, that yall are talking about?
Joe

Yes, and that is what we call it in our house. My wife made split-pea soup just last week. Last night we had homemade potato, carrot and cauliflower soup made similar to split-pea soup in that it is first cooked and then put through a blender to make it into a creamy texture.

Love the pea soup my mother-in-law's preparing. But not too much  Maybe because that's her specialty and she's my inlaw  


______________________
www.exhaustwarehouse.com

Having enjoyed (split) pea soup in various locations around the country from the SoCal Desert to The 'Lake Effect' Upstate New York, and many places in between, I am now going to make a VERY Wandering Jew-Like statement.

  I have found that I like the thick pea soup described by many of you (and myself) much better when I am in a cold, nay...a Harshly Cold, Rural WINTER environment. Eating that soup in the 100 degree fall weather in the Mojave, or on a hot humid July day in Indiana, just isn't the same wonderful experience it was when I had difficulty seeing out the windows of that NY school cafeteria because the snow piled up on the building was covering the opening!

This is the first time EVER for me to actually agree with Dale's Philosophy of Regionized Roadfood Specialization. To me Sushi, Tacos, and Burgers can be found in good and poor quality all over the country and narrow menu items (Cincy Chili) is geografically remote...But Split Pea Soup  may appear nation-wide, but should only qualify for service in the climate belt for which it really shines !!!

Mayor Al ---- I love "green split pea" soup all year round but especially
when the winter temperature goes down below 70 here in St Pete.

I remember the best i ever had was in a NYCity Hotel dining room in the
middle of summer.  I think they may have added a little vino ---not
sure but I still remember how good it was. 

the ancient mariner


Mayor Al ---- I love "green split pea" soup all year round but especially
when the winter temperature goes down below 70 here in St Pete.

I remember the best i ever had was in a NYCity Hotel dining room in the
middle of summer.  I think they may have added a little vino ---not
sure but I still remember how good it was. 

Ancient One,
Some people add Sherry to their Creamer soups, much like adding a splash of Sherry to Turtle Soup. I wouldn't think of eating Turtle Soup without a splash of Sherry!

Mayor Al,
I think ALL HOT soups always taste better from Sept to March. That's the nature of what hot soups are supposed to be and cold soups taste better in the Summer.

Well, I guess I'm one of those that really enjoys soup all year round but I do agree that they are better in the winter! When I make split pea soup I usually use yellow peas. I find them to be a bit milder. I've been following this thread and then yester day on the Create channel they had all cooking shows all day that featured soup. I had saved the bones and a little meat from our leg of lamb we had on Christmas in the freezer. I bought one lamb shank at the supermarket yesterday and proceded to make a really hearty lamb vegetable soup for dinner last night. Delicious!

agnesrob


Well, I guess I'm one of those that really enjoys soup all year round but I do agree that they are better in the winter! 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am with with you, I enjoy soup all year 'round=even in our 100 plus degree day

Soup de jour-----whether the weather is hot or cold----
we like soup.

Did you ever wonder where they find the manual labor who will so patiently sit (or stand) and "cleave" those peas so exactly "in twain"? It is a wonder that bags of Split Peas don't cost a fortune! I mean , they must have a large number of Peas that split 'unevenly'. Are those cast aside for use in 'Ordinary Pea Soup' or other dishes that don't require the even-handed "Split" process? Even if they have a one-for-one splitting ratio, that would still double the amount of actual 'splitting' to fill one bag of the 'Split Peas'.

We need to open a thread regarding the treatment of 'Pea Spliters'. Perhaps when I return to this thread, I will do it...right now I am headed off to conduct some serious 'Pea' business in another room in my house!       

Al, if you are serious wondering about the work involved in splitting peas, this Wikipedia article will help:
 
"Split peas are the dried peeled and split seeds of Pisum sativum.......They come in yellow and green varieties. The peas are round when harvested and dried. Once dry, the skin is removed and the natural split in the seed's cotyledon" (the central part of the pea) "can be mechanically separated, in part to encourage faster cooking."
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_pea

You can't take everything you read on Wikipedia as gospel you know.

6 Star,
  I can't coninue this charade. I was strictly tongue-in-cheek regarding the splitting of peas. Forgive me for taking advantage of your sense of humor. 

Splitting the peas is easy.
Peeling the peas is hard.

No mention of "My Way" is complete without a nod to THE KING. Elvis did a mighty fine version of it.

PapaJoe8, look at the package of dried peas. I will probably sat Split peas, because they cook up much faster than whole ones would. I call it split pea soup, also, so I think you are right.

mayor al


6 Star,
  I can't coninue this charade. I was strictly tongue-in-cheek regarding the splitting of peas. Forgive me for taking advantage of your sense of humor. 

Aww, shoot. I was remembering a great 'Avengers' episode where Steed was infiltrating the Hellfire Club, a group of modern-day 18th-century rakes. As part of his initiation he had to remove a pea from a table, on cue, before a cleaver-wielding member chopped it in two. I kind of hoped that's where split peas were made.

 I don't know if I can live with this intense feeling of guilt. First I subvert 6 Stars sense of Humor and now I destroy Vince's Childhood Memories.

What's next? Wandering Jews compulsive bipolar attachment to Smoothies ? Oops! I think I just let the cat out of the bag...so to speak. 

well, i once sipped soup of this kind. tasted good.

There once was a pea eating contest sponsored by the NY News or NY Post.

A plate of peas had to be consumed using only one hand and a butter knife.

Fastest to clean his plate was the winner.

Everyone tried to pick up the peas with the knife, but more rolled off than stayed on.

Very frustrating !!!

The winner just mashed the peas with the knife, and ate the mashed peas in a few seconds. 

The game does not always go to the swiftest nor strongest----but often to the little guy who uses the little gray cells.  Jenn-es-say-qua, Hercule ?????  
 
Excuse, please----that was supposed to be-------N'EST CE PAS (is it not so)  it is early in the morning and my old gray cells got tangled up.  Pardon, amigos. 

Ahhh, another example of the triumph of wisdom and experience over youth and enthusiasm. I love it.