Ham Soup

We all have that special meal from our childhood that evokes our happiest memories and is the definition of comfort food; mine is Ham Soup.

It was our family tradition. Every Christmas and Easter, my Jewish mother prepared a baked ham, which is the most unkosher meal imaginable. The following day she made Ham Soup with the leftover ham bone.

My Jewish mother learned how to cook from her Polish in-laws, and clearly, she had no interest in keeping a kosher kitchen. Part of the sentimentality of this meal is that it always followed a holiday. (When you have one Jewish parent and one Catholic parent, all holidays are celebrated!) Ironically, most of the guests at our Christmas dinner were Jewish.

Whatever ham was left on the bone after our Christmas or Easter dinner became the heart of the next meal. My mom insisted on using ham butts — never ham shanks. Yellow split peas are the key ingredient in this soup. In California in the 1960s, this was a hard-to-obtain item. My mom would get care packages from her sister-in-laws in Buffalo, New York. I get mine from Whole Foods Market or a local Mexican market. Green split peas are not the same — they never get creamy enough. Also, you don’t want too many peas in the mix; after all, this is NOT pea soup, it is ham soup. For me, the vegetables are the best part. Truth be told, I have primarily eaten a vegetarian/pescatarian diet since I was 14. However, never wanting to pass up a cultural experience, I occasionally indulge in animal protein. Since my kids (now adults) also love ham soup, it remains a bi-annual favorite.


Ham Soup Recipe


Cooking Time ~ about 3 hours

Ingredients:


• Bone from a Ham Butt

• 1 C. dried Yellow Split Peas

• Yellow Onion

• 6-8 Carrots

• 2-3 Potatoes

• Bay Leaf

• Salt
 and Pepper
 to taste

Instructions:


• Sort and rinse the yellow split peas in a colander. Soak them overnight in a pot of cold water. In the morning or just before making the soup, strain and rinse them again in the colander.
• Trim visible fat from the remains of the ham bone — this is easy to do after it has been refrigerated over night.
• 
Place the ham bone and pre-soaked yellow split peas in a large pot.

• Fill with filtered water to nearly cover the ham bone.

• Add the bay leaf.

• Bring to a boil, then turn to low.

• Stir periodically, and every 30 minutes flip the ham bone so it cooks on each side.
• Simmer until peas melt — about two hours.

• Remove ham bone, place it on a plate, and allow the meat to get cool enough to touch.
• Peel and slice carrots into coins — add to soup.

• Peel and chop potatoes into one-inch chunks — add to soup.

• Peel and dice onion — add to soup.

• Carve desirable meat from bone — cut into bite-sized pieces — add to soup.

• Add salt and pepper to taste.

• When the vegetables are soft, the soup is done.

• Serve with a loaf of artisan bread and enjoy!

Preserving Traditions

Every family has a list of favorite meals — particularly, traditional holiday favorites. As a woman in her 60s, my children have started asking me to assemble a booklet of my signature recipes.

Twenty years ago, I created a “Christmas Cookies” book of all my best recipes. For over a decade, I made elaborate cookie baskets every Christmas for close friends and family. It was a huge ordeal that took at least four nights working from 4:00 to 10:00pm. I actually got special requests from many annual recipients, asking for extra chocolate pixies, peanut butter blossoms, or baklava. Ultimately, back pain forced me to end this tradition. I let everyone know that it would be my final year of holiday baking. Some people understood; others tried to guilt me into continuing the ritual. The following year, my friends and family received a wire-bound book of my cookie recipes. The timing was right; a few years later, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and gave up all sweets. I never would have continued baking those tempting treats when my husband could not partake.

My next homemade cookbook will include family favorites like vegetarian lasagna, cheesy scalloped potatoes, cabbage rolls filled with stuffing and covered with sautéed mushrooms, borscht, roasted tomato pasta, an assortment of salads, and blueberry pancakes — all vegetarian dishes. Only one meat-based dish will be included: Ham Soup. ❤️
 

I adapted this story from a previous story I published called "Comfort Food" on my personal website: joyceoday.com.