WINNIPEG — Among the many events available to 2018 Festival Du Voyageur goers is the annual pea soup competition. It’s the chance to try some of the best split pea soup Manitoba has to offer.
Artistic Director Julien Desaulniers said the three judges this year include himself, Global News weather specialist Adriana Zhang and Mike Green of Peg City Grub. The competition is also open to members of the public who can vote for the people’s choice award.
Desaulniers said 10 restaurants will go head-to-head in this year’s competition including the 2017 people’s choice award winner, Clementine. Their award-winning recipe can be found below.
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Clementine Chef Chris Gama says this year’s soup sticks to traditional flavours but will be served in an interesting way.
“That will be a surprise. I don’t want to give that away.”
The pea soup competition can be found at Maison du Bourgeois inside Fort Gibraltar from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Visit the 2018 Festival Du Voyageur website, here, for more information.
WATCH: 2018 Festival Du Voyageur Pea Soup Competition
Clementine’s Split Pea Soup
Soup (serves 8 to 10):
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 onions, peeled and diced
- 1 leek, peeled and diced
- 2 cups dried yellow split peas
- 1 recipe pork stock (see recipe below)
- 350 g of pork cheek or pork shoulder
- 5 slices of diced bacon
- 1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnishes:
- Pickled mirepoix (see recipe below)
- Smoked beef heart (or store bought beef jerky)
- Hickory Sticks
- Birch syrup (or a mix of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup)
Melt butter and oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add carrots, onion, leek and bacon and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Add split peas, pork meat and stock and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours (until peas and pork are very tender). Remove pork from soup and shred with tongs. Use a potato masher to mash soup. Add the meat back into the soup and adjust the consistency of the soup with water if it’s too thick. Add apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve:
Place hot soup in bowl. Garnish each bowl with 1½ tbsp pickled mirepoix, 2 tsp birch syrup and a small handful of Hickory Sticks. Right before serving, grate smoked beef heart with a fine microplane over soup.
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Pork Stock
- 2 kg pork bones & pork trim (pork hocks, bacon, pork cheeks, pork bones)
- 1 white onion, peeled and sliced
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 lg carrot, peeled and sliced
Place pork bones and trim in large stock pot and cover with 1” water. Bring water to boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and remove pork bones and trim from water. Rinse the bones well, discard water and wash the pot. This will give the stock a cleaner flavour and appearance. Add the rinsed bones and trim back to pot along with onion, carrot and garlic. Cover with 2.5” water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 6 to 8 hours. Strain through a fine sieve.
Pickled Mirepoix
- 1 large carrot, diced small
- 1 large white onion, diced small
- 700 ml apple cider vinegar
- 350 ml white sugar
- 1 star anise
- 1 tbsp black peppercorn
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 celery stalk, diced small
In a medium sized pot bring cider vinegar, sugar, star anise, peppercorn and thyme to a boil. Steep for 20 minutes. Strain the pickling liquid over diced carrots and onion. Let cool to room temperature and place in refrigerator overnight. Right before serving, strain pickled carrots and onions and mix with diced celery.
Smoked Beef Heart
- 1 beef heart
- 300 ml bourbon
- 150 ml maple syrup
- ½ cup red miso
- 3 tbsp salt
Put bourbon into pot, bring to boil and reduce by half. Add maple syrup, miso and salt. Stir to dissolve and cool. Clean beef heart of all visible sinew, veins and silver skin. Cut beef heart into 4 – 5 pieces. Marinate beef heart in bourbon mixture and place in fridge for three days. After three days, wipe marinade off beef heart and place back in refrigerator unwrapped for 24 hours to dry. After 24 hours, smoke in a smoker for 8 hours at 150°F (we use a bradley smoker).
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