National Split Pea Soup Week

The second week of November is National Split Pea Soup Week in the United States.

Split pea soup, which can also be simply called pea soup, is an old dish that dates back over two thousand years, to Greece in 400 BC - or even earlier. The pea had definitely been cultivated between 500-400 BC by both the Greeks and Romans, and vendors on the streets of Athens sold hot pea soup.

Split peas are the seeds of the pea plant which have been dried, peeled and split. Pea soup can also be made from fresh peas as well. Split peas, however, store well, and split pea soup is an effective way of using them. In Britain, pease porridge - pease was the old world for pea - was a staple food for many years.

Garden pea soup, made with fresh peas, does not tend to be as thick as split pea soup is. This can vary, though, and does depend on how the soup is prepared. The colour of the soup can also vary, from greyish-green to yellow. Many old pea soup dishes still exist, in one form or another, around the world.

The American type of split pea soup is, unlike most other soups of the same type, thinner than soup made with fresh peas - whereas in most cases it's the other way around. It also usually contains visible peas, as well as vegetables and pork. Pea soup in the U.S. generally refers to a smooth puree.

National Turkey Neck Soup Day

March 30th is National Turkey Neck Soup Day in the United States.

This is another dish that is just what it sounds like. It's soup made with turkey necks.

This is the sort of recipe that would have originally been created to use up every bit of a bird, so that there is no wastage. The turkey necks wouldn't have been eaten with the rest of the bird, and probably would have been removed before cooking it.

Nowadays, turkey's often come pre-dressed, so the turkey neck may not even be included. Consequently, the necks are often sold separately - you can buy packs of frozen turkey necks. This makes it a dish you choose to have, rather than a way of getting the last bit of food from the bird.

Like most soups, the necks would be placed in water, along with some other vegetables, and simmered. The meat would be removed from the bones when it is tender enough, and the bones removed.

National Homemade Soup Day

National Homemade Soup Day is on February 4th in the United States.

Soup is a popular warming dish in the middle of winter, so this is an appropriate time to have a day celebrating soup. Whilst most soup may be purchased pre-made these days, before the advent of canning it was much more common to make your own. It is still not too difficult to make your own soup, even if it is a bit more complex than simply opening a can - or, for fresher soups, a refrigerated cardboard container - and heating it up.

Homemade soup, like all soup, can vary tremendously, from the very simple to the very complex, from a clear, thin soup to one so packed with ingredients that it's essentially a stew. It all depends on how far you want to go. Ingredients used, such as vegetables, can be left in chunks or blended to make a thicker, opaque soup.

There is one easy way of making homemade soup. It is possible to buy appliances that do it all. Add the ingredients to the machine which then blends them and, in a manner that reduces the amount of cleaning, also cooks the soup afterwards. You can't get much easier than that when it comes to making your own soup.

National Soup Month

National Soup Month is in January in the United States.

What better time of year to have a nice bowl of warm soup than in winter when it's gold? Not that soups can't be served cold - both gazpacho and vichyssoise, for example, are traditionally served cold in summer.

Soup is an extremely old dish, dating back well over 20,000 years. It is also one of the most simple dishes to make, although it does require the use of waterproof containers to make it.

There are also different types of soup, as well as hot or cold. They are all traditionally primarily liquid (those with more solids are considered stews, but there is no clear line between the two), although they may contain or be made from solid ingredients. The two main categories of soups are clear soups and thick soups, each category being further broken down into different types.

Almost anything can be made into a soup - meat, seafood and vegetables are all used. They have often been a popular way of using leftover food by boiling them together, but since the introduction of canned soups in the 19th century, they have also been a popular commercial item, as all you need to make a soup is buy a can, open it and then heat the contents; much easier than making them from scratch. Pre-made refrigerated soups are also available.

Soups also do not need to be savoury; there are various desserts soups that can be made. Different recipes for soups can be found all over the world, as regions have their own variations.

Pepper Pot Day

December 29th is Pepper Pot Day in the United States.

This is not, as the name might suggest, a celebration of that means of dispensing, usually ground, pepper. This is in actual fact a thick soup or stew that is also called Philadelphia Pepper Pot.

The soup (or stew) is made with beef tripe, pepper and vegetables. The origins of the stew are legendary, albeit a fairly recent legend, dating back to the American Revolutionary War. One story has it that the baker general of the Continental Army, Christopher Ludwick, made the stew during the winter of 1777-8. Local farmers had sold their produce to the British, rather than accept the Continental in exchange - a very weak currency - so the soldiers had to make a stew from anything they could lay their hands on.

National Bouillabaisse Day

National Bouillabaisse Day is on December 14th in the United States.

Bouillabaisse is a stew that originated in the city of Marseille in Provençal in France. The name comes from the Occitan (a Romantic language) bolhabaissa which is constructed from the verbs boil and simmer.

The stew is traditionally a fish stew, Marseille being a port town, that used rockfish as a base, these being fish that the fishermen were unable to sell on. The three traditional fish were red rascasse, sea robin and European conger, but other can also be used. Shellfish of various types, such as crab, are also commonly added. various vegetables were also included such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes and leeks.

Recipes for traditional Marseilles bouillabaisse do vary, with many different versions exiting in the city, both commercial and private. Naturally, people dispute as to whose recipe is the most authentic.

Interestingly, the various components of a bouillabaisse are traditionally served separately, with the broth being served first, and then the fish, unlike in other fish stews, such as gumbo, where all the ingredients are served in the same bowl.

National Gazpacho Day

December 6th is National Gazpacho Day in the United States.

Gazpacho soup is a soup that originates from Andalucía in Spain, although it is eaten all over Spain and Portugal. It tends to be less common in more northern climes thanks to its most notable quality - it's served cold.

It's not certain how gazpacho came about, but both Arabic and Roman origins have been considered. It is made from raw vegetables and a tomato base, which are chopped with herbs. Stale bread is an optional extra. The resulting combination may then be blended and olive oil, vinegar, water and salt are added.

With it being a cold soup, it is popular in the summer as a cooling dish. This only really applies if the summers are warm, of course. Just don't do what Arnold Rimmer did in Red Dwarf and send it back to the kitchen to be heated up.

National Vichyssoise Day

National Vichyssoise Day is on November 18th in the United States.

Vichyssoise is a soup, which could, at its most basic, be described as potato and leek.

The name is French, and it's named after the French town of Vichy, but it's uncertain as to whether the soup itself actually is. It's possible that it actually originated in the US, even if it was created by a French chef. The chef most commonly credited with it is Louis Diat in 1917, who worked at the Rizt-Carlton in New York City. He himself said that is was an attempt to recreate a soup his mother used to make in his childhood.

The soup itself is thick, made from chicken stock, onions, potatoes, cream and puréed leeks. The soup is one that is by tradition served cold, although it can also be served hot. The cold soup is intended to be a cooling soup in the summer months.

National Seafood Bisque Day

October 19th is National Seafood Bisque Day in the US.

Bisques are a type of soup that originates in France. It's not known precisely how the name came about; it could be named after the Bay of Biscay, or alternatively it could come from bis cuites which means twice cooked.

The dish is traditionally a seafood one, although it can also be used to refer to some similar soups made using fruit or fungi. Crustaceans, such as crayfish, crab, lobster and shrimp are used to make it.

Seafood bisque is a creamy soup made from the crustaceans that is highly seasoned. The original bisques had the shells of the crustaceans ground into a paste which was then added to the soup. Rice can also be used as a thickening agent, which is then strained off before serving. The soup is usually strained anyway, so that the texture is smooth.