Hernerakka

2 cups tried yellow split peas
8 cups water or stock
 
2 medium potatoes 
2 large carrots
3 celery sticks
1 large onion
1 turnip
2 parsnips

(DOUBLE)
2-3 teaspoons ground mustard
dash allspice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried margarine
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream, whipped or yogurt or or sour cream (optional)

I add to split peas and water or stock to the pot and set it to boiling.  While it is heating up, I very coarsely chop the vegetables (quarter inch to half inch thick slices) and drop them in.  When everything's in, I cover it, drop the heat to a gentle simmer, and walk away for an hour and a half or so.  When the split peas are soft, puree it and add the spices, adjusting to taste.  

If you like, top it with a dollop of whipped cream or yogurt or sour cream. I have never done this and I think it's just fine without.

I've had to tape this recipe page in because I open my paperback of Sundays at Moosewood to the spot so often that it was falling out.  According to the header note, is traditionally served at wedding suppers in Scandinavia.     

I have a note on my recipe that reminds me that I need to use my 8 quart stockpot because the 5 quart dutch oven is not quite big enough.

The soup does work fairly well with water but it's definitely improved with a good stock like Summer Vegetable Stock from the Greens Cookbook 

https://debunix.net/recipes/SumVegStock.html 

For the vegetables, it's really quite flexible. I love the taste of carrots and parsnips together, but I'm not so fond of turnips, and I often substitute rutabaga, or just more carrots and parsnips. I think the fact that I made for you and mom actually had some sweet potatoes as part of the mix.  I always use the onion and celery and don't mess with the proportions of those very much.  And the original says that you should peel the turnips and parsnips but I just scrub off the fine hairy rooty bits.

Finally, I find the spices too subtle and I usually end up at least doubling them.  Since I'm starting from whole spices and it's not so easy to add just a pinch of this or that at the end, I grind up three times what the recipe calls for and then put in about half of it, and I just adjust by stirring in spoonful of the already mixed spices at the end.