Snert

When it’s cold in the Netherlands (and it’s cold a LOT), there is one dish that every Dutch person loves to make: snert. It’s a hearty pea soup with lots of meats. I remember when my dad would make this dish, I would eat three bowls at once as a 10-year old. That’s not an exaggeration. I just could not get enough of this soup.

The only problem: It tastes even better when you let it sit overnight. So my dad learned quickly to make a huge amount at once. We had a special pot, the biggest pot I have ever seen, that would only be used to make snert. When I cook this dish now, I still do it per my dad’s recipe. A few things here and there have changed, since not everything can be found in US supermarkets, but the flavor is still as great as I always remembered. Snert is made with split peas, smoked sausage, and, depending on your specific recipe, pork belly, pork chops and/or pork sausage. It’s a hearty dish, meant to keep you warm on cold days.

If you look up ice skating in the Netherlands, you will probably see pictures of this soup as well. They go hand in hand. But I could eat this soup any time of the year. It’s that good. By the way: only call this snert when it’s been sitting for a day! Otherwise it’s simply known as erwtensoep (pea soup).

Everything here can be found at a regular American grocery store, which is one of the reasons I love making this soup here. The only ingredient that just can’t be found here is Dutch smoked sausage ( rookworst ). I usually just get kielbasa, which works fine. This is a lot of soup, so make sure your pan is big enough!