French pea soup from the seventeenth century.
(printout version of recipe September/October 2003, Introduction to recipe with illustrations)

French pea soup

300 gram (1 1/2 cup) split peas
3 large carrots
50 gram butter (1/4 cup) (the recipe indicates 250 gram/1 cup)
chopped sorrel, chervil, endives and parsley
1 onion or spring onion, chopped
1 sprig of savory
3 cloves
salt to taste

Preparation: Bring water to the boil. Add the split peas, bring to the boil again. Pour the water off and rinse the peas under the tap. Take fresh water, two litres. Bring this to the boil with split peas and butter. Add the carrots after 30 minutes. Add the herbs, onions and cloves after another 30 minutes. Simmer until the peas have broken, stir once in a while. 

To serve: At once. When you make this soup in advance and want to reheat it, add some water. The soup must remain fluid.

Extra recipe: Southern Dutch pea soup from the fifteenth century.

Pea soup - Boil 250 gram (1 1/4 cup unsoaked) dried and soaked peas (green or marrowfat) in one litre water until they are almost done. Frie two chopped onions in oil and add these to the peas. Steep half a teaspoon of saffron stalks in one tablespoon of hot water and crush them to release the colour. Add one teaspoon ground cumin. Mix the spices with the peas and puree the soup with a blender or push through a sieve. Bring to boil once more, and serve.

You can sieve the peas out of the cooking liquid and use bread crumbs instead to thicken the soup.