I was suspicious of that Campbell takeover you described.

They have owned the brand for a while now and haven't messed with
it. I did some digging and here's the history:
Habitant soup was established in 1918, but the commercialized
Habitant soup began in 1920 when Joseph Philias Morin started the
Dominion Preserving Co. Ltd. in Montreal.

What form did the original establishment take?
Pea soup must have been a regular in home kitchens
for centuries.

Catelli Foods, a Montreal concern founded in 1867, acquired the
Habitant brand in 1954 when it purchased the Dominion Preserving Co.
Ltd.

Food industry conglomeration started early, then.

Catelli started up in 1867 and was Canada's very first pasta
company; it is still around.

I wasn't that I recall fond of it; anyway, I
thought it was a New World product, many strikes
against. With that company, stuff manufactured by
it is suspect until proven otherwise. It took San
Giorgio and Prince and ruined them by use of
crappier raw materials. Now it seems that the
generics it produces to others' specs can be
much better than its name-brand products. It makes
one almost want to retreat to Barilla (Clean Dave's
choice for worst pasta in the world, but then to my
knowledge he'd never had Creamette).

The Campbell Soup company owns the Habitant brand now. Campbell
bought it from Catelli Foods in 1989.

I really don't understand this shell game.
Looks to me as though one company's analysts
are pitted against another's, and generally
both end up losing.

it was generally a riff on that pea soup. Often vegetarian,
which was a curiously tasteless offering.

Not in Canada.

I just discovered that they make two versions Habitant French
Canadian Pea Soup (almost vegetarian, with just a trace amount of
lard) and Habitant Pea Soup with Smoked Ham which is the kind I
always get.

Which makes one wonder why anyone would bother
going to the store for pea soup.

The bulk flakes are generally too big

I prefer to buy them and grind my own onion powder in small batches
as the flakes stay flavourful longer than the powder.

Makes sense.

There are situations where dried has its uses that
fresh can't duplicate.

For the same reason I like to have fresh, dried and pickled garlic
all on hand.

At Lilli's there's fresh, granulated, powdered,
and fine powdered (bought by accident but goes well
in rubs).

until not
too too long ago I believed those who said that
vindaloo meant hot potatoes and might have spread
that misconception myself.

Same here.

Slow cooker chicken curry
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 oz cn chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 md sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
Serve over rice

Underseasoned but also that's a lot of carb foods for a mere pound
of meat. If that had just the chickpeas or a single sweet potato it
just might be OK.

If it had about seven teaspoons of hot pepper
it might have been OK.

Marc Miron's Habitant Pea Soup
categories: Canadian, Quebecois, main, copycat
servings: 6 to 8

1 lb dried yellow split peas
1/2 md white onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 sm carrot, finely chopped
1 Tb canola oil
9 1/2 c ham stock
2 Tb fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 c ham hock meat
Salt and pepper to taste

Check peas for small stones and discard
discoloured ones.

In a heavy soup pot, sweat the diced onion,
celery and carrots in the oil (M's note: use
lard or ham fat) Add ham stock and dried peas,
bring to a boil, then simmer, skimming foam to
remove impurities, until vegetables and split
peas are tender. Add the thyme. Purÿe half of
the soup, then return mixture to the pot. Add
the ham hock meat and adjust the seasoning.
Garnish soup with croutons and a sprig of
fresh thyme if desired.

Chef Marc Miron
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