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Pea-Pecan Soup (But don't think we're going)
But don't think we're going to be satisfied with just eating them raw, out of hand. We're going to cook with them, too, and if you'll join us in a bowl of pea-pecan soup we'll all be delighted. Just heat a can of peas and mash them through the colander, strain in a cup and a half of cooked tomatoes, stir in a cupful of grated pecans, some salt, and keep stirring till everything's hot and well blended. Nut soups may sound strange if you haven't tried them, but they're as tasty as clam chowder and very comforting on a cold fall day, especially in a snug cabin, because they're full of nutriment, including fat and protein. In fact, their food value is so high that one Brazil nut or two pecans is equal to a whole slice of bread, and a bowl of peanut-butter soup is a meal in itself.
A three-ingredient camp soup that comes together in about fifteen minutes. The one thing to get right is the pecans: grated fine, they thicken and enrich the purée, while chopped nuts will simply sit in the bottom of the bowl.
- Grate, don't chopUse the fine side of a box grater or a few short pulses in a food processor so the pecans reduce to a damp meal. Ground fine, the nut fat emulsifies into the soup and gives it body; anything coarser stays gritty.
- A can of peasCanned pea sizes varied; the modern standard is about 15 oz. Drain them but keep the liquid, since this soup has no stock and you may want some for thinning.
- Cooked tomatoesThis means canned tomatoes or fresh ones stewed until soft. A 14.5 oz can runs a little under two cups, slightly more than the cup and a half called for; strain out skins and seeds as directed.
- Mash through the colanderA colander served for this rough sieving, though finer sieves were also in use. A fine-mesh strainer with the back of a ladle works better, and a blender or stick blender does the whole job in seconds.
- Keep it below a boilOnce the ground pecans go in, hold the pot at a bare simmer and stir. Hard boiling drives the nut oil out of suspension and leaves a slick on top.
- Season furtherSalt alone is thin seasoning for canned peas and tomatoes. Black pepper, a pinch of sugar to settle the tomato acid, and a spoonful of butter or cream at the end all help.
- YieldAround 4 cups by the recipe's own measures, two generous bowls as a main course and four as a first course. It thickens as it stands; loosen with pea liquid or water when reheating.
- On the nutrition claimThe comparison of one Brazil nut to a slice of bread is period enthusiasm, not arithmetic. A Brazil nut runs roughly 30 calories against about 80 for a slice of bread, though the author is right that the nuts supply the fat and protein the peas and tomatoes lack.
Nut soups belong to a recognisable strain of American cookery: vegetarian reformers, sanatorium kitchens and the new food chemistry all promoted the nut as a compact source of fat and protein, and cheap canned peas and tomatoes made purée soups easy. The result was a run of soups built on ground almonds, peanuts, chestnuts or pecans, appearing in health cookery and camp cookery alike, since a bag of nuts carries better than meat and needs no ice. Pecans were a Southern and Southwestern staple with an expanding commercial orchard industry in the earlier twentieth century. The comparison to clam chowder is telling: the author is reassuring readers that a soup with no meat in it can still count as supper.