As Finland was, until 1809, part of the Swedish realm, Sweden and Finland share many cultural traditions, including split pea soup (Swedis härtsoppa; Finnish hernekeitto ; Norwegian ertesuppe; Danish glue ærter).

The soup is made of green peas in Finland, whereas in Sweden and Denmark,  also yellow peas are used. Recipes vary also. In Finland, we eat dark sourdough rye bread with the soup. Here is the recipe for the sourdough rye bread.

Every Thursday, this soup is served in work canteens and lunch restaurants as one lunch choice. In Finland, traditionally, it’s always followed by Dutch baby pancake (pannukakku), whipped cream, and jam. The tradition of eating pea soup and pancakes on Thursdays originated in the pre-Reformation era as preparation for fasting on Fridays.

The cooking time listed below is the minimum; the longer you cook it on low heat, the better it gets. If you reheat the soup, it only makes the taste even better. This soup also freezes wonderfully. Many like to add mustard to their soup. The mustard is always being served on the side so everyone can stir it into one’s taste. Some people add raw onion to their pea soup, but this was not a habit in my family. I have potatoes and carrots in the recipe, and I know it will offend some Finns, but this is how the soup was done in my family. There are so many recipes and they OK !

You can also make this soup VEGAN by leaving meat away and changing the meat stock into vegetable stock. In order to get a wonderful smoky flavor in your soup, you could add a pinch of smoked salt or artificial smoke flavoring in the end.

• 2 l water
• 1l meat/vegetable stock
• 8 kernels of blackpepper
• 500 g smoked ham (one large piece with the bone if possible)
• 300 g soft starchy potatoes, diced small
• 3-4 carrots, diced
• 500 g dried whole green peas
• 1 tbs  dried marjoram
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• the salt according to your own taste

1. Soak peas in cold water overnight.
2. Clean and drain peas using a colander.
3. Add cubed ham or the whole ham with the bone to the pot. (If you do not find smoked ham with the bone, get the pork bones separately; this is what I do because it is really hard to find smoked ham with the bone in Austria. Smoked ham, though, is all over the place. Before adding them to the Crockpot, roast the bones in the oven or pan, as you would for other bones when making meat stock.)
4. Add water, meat/vegetable stock, allspice kernels, marjoram, diced onion and garlic, and bay leaf. Add also diced potatoes and carrots.
5. Begin simmering on the high heat setting for 4 hours.
6. If you were lucky enough to find smoked ham with the bone, this is what you will do at this point: when the ham is fully cooked, it will begin to come off the bone, so you can remove the bone and ham from the soup. Cut the ham into smaller bite-size pieces and add back into the soup.
7. Keep on simmering on low heat at least 4 more hours.
8. Add the salt in the end. Use your judgment on how much salt you add.
9. Serve with mustard and rye bread.

Note: If you didn’t find smoked ham, use ordinary ham, and to still get a wonderful smoky flavor, you could add a pinch of smoked salt or artificial smoke flavor at the end of your soup. When this soup cools down, it thickens, so you might want to dilute it with water when heating it up again.