Pea Soup & Patron Saints. - The Soup Pea Capital Of Canada

 
​What do priests, peas, and Pagan traditions have in common? They all eventually found their way along the banks of the Red River in Manitoba.

    John the Baptist, born in the first century BC was considered to be a prophet of God. Never one to miss capitalizing on a great opportunity, the Christian Church adopted the Pagan summer solstice tradition of celebrating the longest day of the year to the birth of Saint John the Baptist, and a new tradition was born.

  Gaining traction in France, as celebrations tend to do, the tradition eventually found its way to New France and seeped into the hearts and homes of French Canadians as a way to unify their alliances with France itself. On June 24th, 1834, the tradition was repurposed as a political tool and with enough media backing, eventually became the patriotic symbol of French Canadians. Since 1925 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day has been a legally recognized holiday in Quebec, more celebrated than Canada Day.
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Looking to expand Canada's land development and economic footprint, in 1872 the Canadian government was offering up 160 acres of free land to anyone who would settle the prairies. Two years later the Société de colonisation du Manitoba was created with the hopes of encouraging French-speaking Catholics to jump on the immigration wagon. A member of the community, Father David Fillion, had a dream to populate the area, along the banks of the Red River Valley with this very group.

    By 1876, Fillion had convinced the first of these groups of settlers to relocate; a group that had already relocated from Quebec to the USA. Next, groups from Quebec's rural parishes were asked to join the migration. For all settlers, breaking in these untamed lands was difficult and many wanted to return to the easier life they had left behind. Those that stayed flourished and the region in and around Saint-Jean Baptiste thrived as the original Méties settlers and French-Canadians worked together.

    According to Le Colonisateur canadien in 1890, to highlight the efforts of the settlers, records were kept of the locals noting where they had originated in Quebec, where they had moved to in the USA, the year of their arrival in St. Jean Baptiste, the amount of funds they had arrived with, and their estimated capital by 1889.

Below is an image of those records as seen in the town today.

Originally named “Mission Rivière aux Prunes” for the abundance of wild plums that grew along the river banks, it was renamed by Archbishop Taché in 1872 in honor of the patron saint of French Canadians, Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Nothing like a little religious pressure to motivate newcomers to the holy standard expected in their new home.

Here along Manitoba’s Red River, was some of the prairie's most fertile promise land, perfect for cereal crops like the iconic Red River Cereal named for the river, and highly sought-after specialty seed crops like soup peas, my reason for coming nearly 150 years since they were first planted.

Welcome to Saint-Jean-Baptiste; “Capitale des Pois à Soupe du Canada / Soup Pea Capital Of Canada” 

Riding from western Canada to eastern Canada, the prairies shift from anglophone to francophone and even more abrupt are the culture and cuisine transformations. In southern Manitoba, on the cusp of Ontario, the cultural lines seem to mesh like nowhere else in the country.

I’d come looking to discover the history of the Soup Pea Capital Of Canada and was lucky enough to have been put in touch with the backbone of the community, Mona Lavallee. Mona first probed me with a few preliminary questions, as one does when they spent over three decades working with the RCMP. After questioning me, she realized I was relatively harmless, and organized an entire community event around the soup pea and traditional recipes for my arrival. She didn’t just say, hey come over for lunch, she set us up in the community center with eight of the town's most esteemed citizens for an educational lunch that included an array of unbelievably delicious and historical dishes from the heart and soul of families with deep local roots.

I’d arrived late (as I sometimes do on this little bike), and walked into the community center filled with welcome faces and the robust scent of simmering yellow peas with stewed ham filling the air. The group of long-time locals, entirely French Canadian, was kind enough to address me in English. After bringing me up to speed on the history of the town from earlier, they noted there have since been plenty of changes. Things kicked off with a story from Gilbert who was sitting next to me. He recalls when he was a schoolboy and the very first English-speaking family that had moved to town. He remembers that they were noticeably different, but seemed to transition seamlessly into the community, these days though the numbers have reversed and French Canadians are the minority. 

This English transition wasn’t by accident. The group talks about their days in school when the government was on an assimilation crusade and classes were to be taught entirely in English. Some teachers still tried to teach in their native French language but when educational inspectors would come around, the students had to hide their French textbooks while the teacher quickly erased any written French from the blackboard. Some of the students actually had to go to French school on Saturdays for intensive days of learning as a means to retain their culture.

Sitting across from me is Raymonde Dupuis, a wealth of local insight and interesting stories. She explained to me that pea soup became a staple of French Canadian cuisine because it was cheap and nourishing. This dish was so recognized within the culture that it became the nickname of the French Canadians who were at one time referred to as “Pea Soups”. These days the term has shifted and she says they call French Canadians who can’t speak French Pea Soups. 

The town was once soup pea central, as local St. Jean entrepreneur Alfred Roy started A. Roy Trading in 1948 and became the area's main employer, distributing green and yellow peas worldwide. Despite the soil composition being great for growing, the soup pea itself is finicky compared to other prairie crops, and over time this uncertainty had farmers looking for more stable yields like canola and corn. Eventually, the plant was sold and the majority of farmers moved to other crops as the soup pea capital of Canada faded into history. 

Today, the pea soup chef de cuisine is Jeannine Ayotte, a delightful woman with a distinct French Canadian accent. She embodies the look of a lady whom you would expect to be putting the final touches on Sunday brunch for a family fresh from church. 

She walks me through the process noting the recipe is very simple but the execution requires some attention. She only uses split peas in her soup and starts off with a bit of water until it becomes very thick then slowly adds more water as it cooks. She then adds just enough water to cool the soup off and stop the boiling. Finally, some baking soda is mixed in as a means to help thicken the soup and prevent gas, for you, not for the soup 🙂 Jeannine says to never add the baking soda when the water is boiling or you’ll end up with a volcanic soupy mess.

Next, she tries the soup to see how the peas are cooking, if the peas are softening nicely she then adds the carrots, celery, onions, and some salt & pepper. The reason she adds the vegetables at the halfway point and not at the start is because the vegetables would get too mushy if added too soon;  what you want is mushy peas with some texture from the vegetables, not the reverse. Jeannine says that if you have a soup bone from a ham that’s been cooked, you would then add the juice from that to the recipe and any bits of ham that were left over. From here everything is then left to simmer with a few stirs here and there to prevent it from burning. Depending on your preferred mushiness, it can simmer for a couple of hours or the entire day.  

Jeannine recounts her first days making big batches of pea soup twenty years ago during a town river festival, she wanted to showcase what the town was known for and decided to make pea soup for everyone. She made a festival-sized batch and gave it away in coffee cups. It was a hit! As the years rolled on she's been perfecting the recipe at other local events like the yearly quad derby where she shows up with 25 pails of soup! What's simmering in front of me today is the result of thousands of liters of tried and tested pea soup perfection. 

I think we’re getting to the time for tasting and as the soup comes off the stove, suddenly the oven opens to reveal another savory surprise. Raymonde, who's been filling me in on local history since we sat down, has also made a classic tourtière (meat pie) that’s been warming in the oven. Just while my mind is getting lost in the delicious distractions, I hear Mona say, ohh and Lucille made sugar pie. What! Pea soup from the soup pea capital of Canada along with a tourtière and a sugar pie! I love it when lunch is hosted by proud overachieving foodie types.  

Lucille explains the tarte au sucre or sugar pie translated for my benefit, as tasty, with very few ingredients, but is not good for the waistline. I think Lucille just hit all my favorite recipe words in one sentence. 

Segwaying from the tarte, Lucille points out a repurposed Cheese Whiz jar on the counter. It’s filled with a homemade accompaniment for the tourtière, ketchup aux pembinas. A kind of thin chutney HP sauce made with wild cranberries she’d harvested. As the menu and accompaniments list grows, Mona points to a bottle of Heinz Ketchup and says she brought this ketchup she’d made. I laughed at her joke. After all the detailed explanations for the homemade pea soup, tourtière, tarte au sucre, and the ketchup aux pembinas, I think it's funny she’s trying to take credit for the Heinz. It turns out she was serious. She had actually made her own custom tourtière ketchup and brought it for the meat pie, it just happened to work best in the Heinz bottle, incredible!

With French and English mixing as seamlessly in the room as the rich smells and warm hospitality, I ladle a bowl full of history in the form of vibrant yellow soup into my bowl. Next, a slice of traditional tourtière kissed on both sides with ketchup two ways, in case I wasn’t sure how classic French Canadian I should go. 

The mood in the room lifts to that gleeful cultural vibe that can only be found among friends and family savoring the memories of childhood through bites of wholesome comfort food. This is amazing, how many times is an anglophone from western Canada invited to the dinner table for such a culturally significant meal with a group of French Canadians in the most significant place on planet earth for the main ingredient. The answer, once!

After lunch, I’m treated to a VIP tour of the town and Raymonde unlocks the door to show me the inside of the most magnificent church I’ve ever seen in Canada. Originally Métis would hold mass at home, but by 1874 the first chapel was constructed and by 1877 the first church was complete. As the community grew from twenty or so Franco-Manitoban families, so did demand for the parish and by 1884 a church three times the size was constructed. The latest structure eventually came down and by 1927 the basement of this new holy establishment was being excavated and reconstructed in Gothic style using Tyndall stone hauled in via train. Four years later upon completion, the structure was topped with a forged iron cross that still stands nearly 100 years later. Though a mere fraction of the attendees that it once held, visitors who make it inside are treated to these magnificent pillars reaching to the heavens, a ceiling of sky blue, and stunning chandelier accents. An awe-inspiring synthesis of architectural design.

Before leaving town Mona tells me that if I plan to be in the area that weekend, a bit further south in St Joseph (a village that seemed to have more tractors than residents), there is a festival with camping, food, games, and a parade. With festivals and food on the horizon, I tell her I’ll be there. That weekend I ended up in the village parade with Goose.. Tossing out Jelly Beans, Blistex, tea bags, hot chocolate packs, gum, and a hilarious assortment of goodies that had been provided for me by Darryl's wife a few days earlier. Good timing, as I’m not generally parade-ready.

Mona’s at the festival with her husband Gilbert from the pea soup party, not only to enjoy the festivities but to accept an award. A former team member with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mona had previously received a Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal in Manitoba for her leadership work as a public servant. This Royal recognition is handed out to less than 0.01% of the Canadian civilian population.  When I asked her about this achievement, she sort of blew it off like it was nothing to fuss about when in reality, it’s really amazing to receive one of these medals…Congratulations Mona!

To receive this medal, eligible candidates must have made significant contributions to society within Canada, specifically their province, or community. We’ll get to why I know that stat in the last chapter of this book.

    A super achiever with a strong interest in community, this was going to be her SECOND time receiving this medal! This time for community service work. It suddenly became clear as to why I didn’t just end up in a small town for soup. Instead, I found myself in a well-organized community event with a host of historical foods and incredible people going all in with their local and cultural offerings. Giving 110% is how Mona lives and when you operate on that level, it’s likely difficult to see what all the fuss is about. 

They say you are what you eat, and if the soil here is some of the most prolific around the Red River for specialty seed crops like soup peas, then it’s no wonder why the people who grew up on local pea soup here are some of the most culturally well-rooted in the province.  

Recipes:
Like a lot of recipes that were uncovered along the way, these too had been passed down as handwritten notes from one generation to the next. Then taken from scribbled paper to a typewriter, photocopied and folded up in a drawer or binder only to be uncovered when teaching someone new the recipe. That version was then translated into English for me and made its way here. 

Soupe aux Pois Jaunes Cassés (Jeannine) 
-2 tasses de pois jaunes cassés secs
-10-12 tasses d'eau
-2 tasses de jus d'os de jambon (facultatif)
-1 os de jambon (facultatif)
-1 tasse d'oignon haché
-1 tasse de céleri haché
-1 tasse de carotte hachée
-1/2 cuillère à soupe de bicarbonate de soude
-sel et poivre au goût

Tout d’abord, rincez les pois, puis ajoutez 4 tasses d’eau légèrement salée et laissez mijoter jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient très épais et tendres, environ deux heures. Ajoutez lentement 2 tasses d'eau supplémentaires pendant que le mélange mijote.
Si vous avez un os de jambon, ajoutez-le maintenant.
Une fois que les pois sont suffisamment tendres, ajoutez 2 tasses supplémentaires d'eau pour refroidir le mélange, puis incorporez le bicarbonate de soude.
N’ajoutez pas de bicarbonate de soude lorsqu’il fait chaud, sinon vous aurez une soupe volcanique.

Ajoutez ensuite les carottes, le céleri, les oignons, le sel et le poivre.
Si vous avez du jus de jambon, ajoutez-en deux tasses. Sinon 2 tasses d'eau.
Laisser mijoter en remuant de temps en temps pendant une heure, ou plus si vous préférez que la soupe soit plus pâteuse.

Donne environ 10 portions ou un seau de crème glacée plein.

Split Yellow Pea Soup (Jeannine)
-2 cups dry split yellow peas
-10-12 cups water
-2 cups ham bone juice (optional)
-1 ham bone (optional)
-1 cup chopped onion
-1 cup chopped celery
-1 cup chopped carrot
-1/2 tbsp baking soda
-salt and pepper to taste

First, rinse the peas then add 4 cups of lightly salted water and simmer until very thick and tender, approximately two hours. Slowly add 2 more cups of water while it's simmering.
If you have a ham bone, add it now.
Once the peas are tender enough, add 2 more cups of water to cool the mixture and then mix in the baking soda.
Don’t add baking soda when it’s hot or you’ll have volcano soup.

Then add the carrots, celery, onions, and salt & pepper.
If you have ham juice, add two cups. Otherwise 2 cups of water.
Allow to simmer while stirring occasionally for one hour, or longer if you prefer the soup to be more mushy.

Makes about 10 servings or one ice cream pail full. 

Tarte Au Sucre a la Creme (Lucille)
-1 ¾ tasse sucre brun mélangé avec 3 tbsp farine
Ajouter
-1 oeuf
-1 tasse de crème (35%)
-¼ tsp vanille
Bien mélanger et verser dans une croute de tarte pas cuite
Cuire à 325°F pendant environ 45 minutes




Sugar Pie (Lucille)
-1 3/4 cup brown sugar mixed with 3 tbsp flour
Add 
-1 egg
-1 cup whipping cream (35%)
-¼ tsp vanilla
Mix well and pour into an uncooked pie shell
Cook a 325oF for approximately 45 minutes

Ketchup Aux Pembinas (Lucille)
10 tasses de pembina (pas cuites) 8 tasses de purée

Faites cuire, passer dans un tamis pour obtenir une purée.
Dans une grosse casserole, ajoutez:
-2 tasses de vinaigre
-3 livres du sucre brun (6 cups of sugar)
-1 c. à soupe de canelle
-1 c. à thé de toute-épices
-1 ½ c. à table de sel
-1 c. à thé de poivre

Faites bouillir jusqu’à une bonne épaisseur (3 à 4 heures).
Donne environ 6 pintes. 

Wild Cranberry Ketchup (Lucille) 
10 cups wild cranberries (uncooked) 8 cups puree

Cook until passed through a sieve and you are left with a puree.

In a large saucepan, add:
-2 cups vinegar
-3 pounds brown sugar (6 cups of sugar)
-1 tbsp. tablespoon cinnamon
-1 tbsp. teaspoon all-spice
-1 ½ tsp. table salt
-1 tbsp. teaspoon pepper

Boil until thick (3 to 4 hours).
Makes about 6 quarts.




Ketchup Rouge (Mona) 
Donne 7 à 8 litres

-20 livres de tomates mûres 
-6 gros oignons hachés
-3 tasses de céleri, coupé en dés
-4 pommes coupées en dés
-1 grosse betterave pour la couleur (facultatif)
-4 à 5 tasses de vinaigre
-4 tasses de cassonade
-1 cuillère à soupe d'épices à marinade
-1 tasse de sucre blanc
-1 tasse de farine
-10oz (2x156ml) boîte de  concentré de tomates
-3 litres d’un ketchup du commerce (Co-op, Heinz, à votre choix)


Laver les tomates, enlever les bouts et les taches. Placer les tomates dans une grande marmite. Avec vos mains, écrasez les tomates autant que possible. Ajouter les oignons, le céleri et les pommes. Vous pouvez ajouter une grosse betterave pour donner à votre ketchup une riche couleur rouge. Porter le mélange à ébullition jusqu'à ce qu'il soit bien dissous et poursuivre l'ébullition pendant environ 5 minutes. Avant de filtrer, retirez la betterave et jetez-la. À l'aide d'une passoire Chinois en acier inoxydable, filtrez le mélange de tomates. Vous devriez obtenir environ 24 tasses de jus.  Remettre le jus dans la marmite. Jeter le reste. 

Ajouter le vinaigre et la cassonade. Laissez mijoter pendant une heure, puis ajoutez les épices à marinade que vous avez enveloppées dans un sachet d'épices à marinade. Laisser mijoter pendant une heure supplémentaire, puis jeter les épices. 

Mélanger le sucre blanc et la farine. Ajoutez lentement suffisamment de jus à ce mélange sec pour le dissoudre, et continuez à ajouter du jus jusqu'à ce qu'il soit bien mélangé. Remettez lentement ce mélange dans la marmite et remuez bien. En procédant lentement, vous éviterez que la farine cuit et ne forme des grumeaux dans le liquide chaud. Ajouter le concentré de tomates. Laissez mijoter jusqu'à épaississement, en remuant constamment pendant environ 30 minutes.

Une fois cette étape franchie, ajoutez une grosse boite de ketchup du commerce et mélangez bien. Vous obtiendrez ainsi un ketchup d'une bonne consistance et d'une grande saveur maison.

Placez le ketchup dans des bocaux stérilisés et scellez-le à la vapeur.








Red Ketchup (Mona)
Makes 7-8 quarts

-20 lbs ripe tomatoes 
-6 large onions, chopped
-3 cups celery, diced
-4 apples, diced
-1 large beet for color (optional)
-4-5 cups vinegar
-4 cups brown sugar
-1 tbsp pickling spice
-1 cup white sugar
-1 cup flour
-10oz (2x156ml) can tomato paste
-3 liters store-bought ketchup 

Wash tomatoes, remove ends and blemishes. Place in a large canner. Using your hands, squish the tomatoes as much as possible. Add the onions, celery, and apples. You can add a large beet to help give your ketchup a rich red colour. Bring mixture to a boil until well dissolved and continue to boil for approximately 5 minutes. Before straining, remove and discard the beet. Using a stainless steel Chinois strainer, strain the tomato mixture. This should give you approximately 24 cups juice.  Return juice to the canner. Discard the rest. 

Add vinegar and brown sugar. Simmer for an hour, then add the pickling spice that you wrapped in a pickling spice bag. Simmer for another hour, discard the pickling spice. 

Mix together the white sugar and flour. Slowly add enough juice to this dry mixture to dissolve it, and continue to add more of the juice until it is well blended. Slowly add this mixture back into the canner and stir well. Doing this slowly will prevent the flour from forming lumps in the hot liquid. Add the tomato paste. Let simmer until thickened, stirring constantly for approximately 30 minutes.

When this is done, add a large container of store-bought ketchup and mix well. This will help give your ketchup good consistency with great homemade flavour.

Place in sterilized jars and steam to seal.