Chef Klaus
Bibbelsches Bohnesupp
The Saarland bean soup that waits until the beans are tender before the vinegar goes in, with bacon fat and potato doing the work properly.
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Pfälzer Erbsensuppe
Created by
The Palatinate pea soup that thickens because the peas collapse, not because flour went in, with smoked pork, potatoes, and the slow hour the pot needs.
Side Dishes
German
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
One Pot
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 45 min cook•10 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
Pfälzer Erbsensuppe belongs to the Palatinate winter table, where a pot of dried peas, roots, potato, and smoked pork feeds more people than the shopping bill suggests. It is weeknight food if you've planned the soak, Sunday food if the pot is big enough, and proper Hausmannskost, honest home cooking, when the spoon stands up a little.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the north, pea soup often leans on Speck, Mettenden, or a cleaner broth; in the Palatinate it likes smoked pork, floury potato, leek, carrot, and sometimes a sausage slipped in near the end. The argument is not about elegance. It is about whether the peas cook down on their own. They must.
The rule is simple: simmer, don't storm-boil, and don't thicken with flour. A hard boil knocks the peas around before their starch has relaxed, so you get skins and sludge instead of a creamy pot. Low heat lets the peas fall apart slowly while the potato gives body and the smoked rind gives salt, fat, and backbone. Weggeworfen wird nichts.
Salt late and taste around the pork. Smoked meat brings its own salt, and a cook who seasons early often has no way back. Das braucht seine Zeit. Not much of it, but the right kind.
Dried peas were a staple of the German winter larder long before refrigeration, because they kept through the cold months and gave protein when fresh meat was scarce. The Palatinate version reflects a wine-growing and farming region where root vegetables, potatoes after their eighteenth-century spread in German fields, and smoked pork from the household slaughter met in one practical pot. Across Germany, Erbsensuppe also became tied to field kitchens and public feeding in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which is why many regions claim their own version with real conviction.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried green split peas
Quantity
500g
rinsed and soaked overnight
smoked pork belly or smoked pork neck
Quantity
250g
in one piece
smoked pork rind or bacon rind (optional)
Quantity
1 piece
lard or neutral oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
onions
Quantity
2
diced
leek
Quantity
1
washed and sliced
carrots
Quantity
2
diced
celeriac
Quantity
150g
diced
floury potatoes
Quantity
500g
peeled and diced
water or unsalted pork stock
Quantity
1.7 litres
bay leaves
Quantity
2
dried marjoram
Quantity
1 teaspoon
mild mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
smoked sausages, such as Mettwurst or Wiener (optional)
Quantity
4
salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried green split peasrinsed and soaked overnight | 500g |
| smoked pork belly or smoked pork neckin one piece | 250g |
| smoked pork rind or bacon rind (optional) | 1 piece |
| lard or neutral oil | 2 tablespoons |
| onionsdiced | 2 |
| leekwashed and sliced | 1 |
| carrotsdiced | 2 |
| celeriacdiced | 150g |
| floury potatoespeeled and diced | 500g |
| water or unsalted pork stock | 1.7 litres |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| dried marjoram | 1 teaspoon |
| mild mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| smoked sausages, such as Mettwurst or Wiener (optional) | 4 |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5 to 6 litre soup pot or Dutch oven
- •Wooden spoon
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Soak the peas
Rinse the split peas until the water runs mostly clear, then soak them overnight in plenty of cold water. The soak isn't ceremony; it lets the peas cook evenly, so the middle softens before the outside breaks into meal. Drain them before they go in the pot.
- 2
Start the roots
Warm the lard in a heavy pot and cook the onions, leek, carrots, and celeriac for 8 to 10 minutes, until they smell sweet but have not browned hard. Browning is not the point here; the vegetables should give body and sweetness to the peas, not turn the soup dark.
- 3
Simmer the pork
Add the drained peas, smoked pork, rind if you have it, bay leaves, marjoram, and water or unsalted stock. Bring it just to a boil, skim the grey foam, then runter mit der Temperatur, down with the temperature, to a low simmer. A hard boil makes the pot cloudy and ragged; a steady simmer pulls smoke and gelatine from the pork while the peas soften.
- 4
Add potatoes
After 45 minutes, add the diced floury potatoes and keep simmering for another 35 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then so the thickening peas don't catch on the bottom. Floury potatoes are the right kind because they crumble into the soup and help it go creamy; waxy potatoes sit there like little stones.
- 5
Finish the pot
Lift out the smoked pork and rind. Discard the bay leaves, chop the pork into bite-size pieces, and return the meat to the pot. Mash a few ladles of soup against the side if you want it thicker, but don't reach for flour. The peas and potato have already done the work, Nicht aus dem Glas, and not from a packet either.
- 6
Season and serve
Stir in the mustard and warm the sausages in the soup for 8 to 10 minutes if you're using them; they only need heating through, and boiling them hard makes them split. Taste, then salt and pepper at the end because smoked pork can fool you early. Scatter parsley over the bowls and serve with rye bread. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Use floury potatoes, the kind that fall apart when boiled. They make the soup creamy without flour, and that is the difference between a pea soup and paste.
- •If your smoked pork is very salty, soak it in cold water for 30 minutes before cooking. The smoke should season the pot, not bully it.
- •Stir more often once the potatoes are in. Thick pea soup catches quietly on the bottom, and burnt pea tastes burnt all the way through.
- •Leftovers thicken overnight. Loosen them with water or unsalted stock over low heat, not a fierce boil, and taste again before salting.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the peas the night before, 8 to 12 hours, so the cooking is steady and even.
- •The soup can be cooked one day ahead and reheated gently. It will thicken in the cold, so loosen it with water or unsalted stock until it moves slowly off the spoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 600g)
Calories
685 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
1440 mg
Total Carbohydrates
77 g
Dietary Fiber
25 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
36 g
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