Utterly Confused about Andersen’s Pea Soup

It’s as “thick as pea soup”, an old adage goes. Well, just how thick IS pea soup supposed to be? And what WAS as “thick as pea soup?”

To the latter, it was a reference to the fogs that use to settle in on the United Kingdom, back in the days when factories and homes burned coal for fuel. If one used yellow peas, instead of green, it was referred to as “London Particular”, after that yellow hued smog of coal-burning days. To the former? As thick as your personal taste requires!

In literature, pea soup is often referred to as food for the poor. Cheap and easy to fix. The recipe doesn’t vary much around the world, but the significance it plays in cuisines varies. It’s an “important “dish in Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia. In the US, it is simply one of a variety of the hundreds of soups we have available to us in restaurants or supermarkets.

So what’s the hubbub?

Somewhere recently, I came across a couple of cans of “Andersen’s Creamy Split Pea” soup. Now in the US, usually “split pea” would refer to there being bits of peas in the soap, whereas “regular pea soup”. would be a puree.  Such is the case with Andersen’s, manufactured by Advanced Food Products of Visalia, CA.

But where does the “Andersens” come from? One would assume it to be a relatively easy question for residents or tourists to the West Coast of America. They are used to seeing outdoor posters along the highways for “Pea Soup Andersen’s” – with the cartoon characters of “Hap-pea“ and “Pea-Wee” adorning the boards, and usually a visual of the trademark “windmill” that adorned the Buellton location.

In trying to research this….I became nothing but confused. The reason I started the quest was because of the canned soup, which was pretty good. And I assumed since it was called “Andersens”, it more than likely was a licensed product of the restaurant in Buellton. But there is no reference to that on the soup website.

Nor is there a reference to the soup on the restaurant website. Nor is there a reference to the restaurant on the website of Pea Soup Andersen’s Motel. Nor is there a reference anywhere to the San Diego restaurant of the same name.

What happened here? Family disagreement? Partnership dissolution? Intellectual property mayhem? I don’t know.

I do know I like the canned variety of Andersen’s Pea Soup, and the restaurant variety as well.  They are both adequate subsitutes when Mrs. Burgerdogboy hasn’t whipped up a pot of her home-made pea soup, which is da bomb!  That’s all.

 

Pea Soup Andersen's

Andersen’s Pea Soup

Pea Soup Andersens

4 comments to “Utterly Confused about Andersen’s Pea Soup”
4 comments to “Utterly Confused about Andersen’s Pea Soup”
  1. I’ve only been to the Pea Soup Andersen’s in Gustine off I-5 and it’s called “Pea Soup Andersen’s” whereas I see the can of soup says only “Andersen’s” so I wonder (as you pointed out) there was an argument over the exact brand name?

  2. I’ve only been to the Pea Soup Andersen’s in Gustine off I-5 and it’s called “Pea Soup Andersen’s” whereas I see the can of soup says only “Andersen’s” so I wonder (as you pointed out) there was an argument over the exact brand name?

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