Snert is a one pot meal for which traditionally ingredients are used with a long shelf-life. In colloquial speech the notions pea soup and snert are used interchangeably. There is, however, a difference. A pan of pea soup is only called snert by the connoisseurs, if it has been left waiting for at least a night. This makes the soup creamier, hence thicker. For cooking snert a number of ingredients are indispensable. Onion, carrot, celeriac, leek and, of course, green/yellow peas or split peas should always been used in a pan of snert, for instance. It is important that the peas belong to the family Pisum Sativum. In case the snert should turn out too thin, a potatoe can be added, to make it extra thick.
Prior to the preparation the necessary stock, made of salted meat, is cooked for about three hours and the dried peas are soaked in water during six to eight hours.
Subsequently the vegetables and the peas are added to the stock, after which everything is to be boiled well. Finally a sausage is added to the soup and it is allowed to slowly cool down. Then the pan is put away until the next day.
Of course, variations in the recipe are possible. During the World Championship Snert Cooking it clearly appears that cooking snert is a living tradition. Recipes are adapted and new elements added, so that the jury is ever again challenged to reflect on the basis and the dynamics of the tradition.
