Adelaide hosted the Australian Grand Prix on its city streets from 1985 to 1995, and it has its own answer to the question of what to eat after dark: the pie floater. A meat pie is set upside down in a bowl of thick pea soup and crowned with a swirl of tomato sauce. It was served from Adelaide's pie carts from the late nineteenth century, and in 2003 the National Trust of South Australia named it a South Australian Heritage Icon, an honor it shares with considerably more sober landmarks.

The dish sounds unlikely and eats wonderfully. The soup softens the bottom of the pie, the gravy leaks into the peas, and the sweet sharpness of the sauce pulls it all together. The real work is the soup, which is cheap, patient and almost impossible to ruin; the pie can be our own Aussie meat pie, or a good bakery one.

The pea soup

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) dried green split peas
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 6 cups (1.4 liters) chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

1. Tip the peas into the sieve and rinse under cold running water, rubbing them with your fingers, until the water runs clear. Pick out anything that is not a pea.
2. Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes.
3. Add the peas, stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off any pale foam with a spoon, then turn the heat to low, partly cover the pot and simmer for 60 to 75 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, as the peas thicken and can stick.
4. Remove the bay leaf. Mash hard with the potato masher for a rustic soup, or blend with a stick blender for a smooth one. Stir in the salt and pepper, taste, and add more salt if needed. If the soup is stiffer than thick porridge, stir in hot stock or water a few tablespoons at a time.

The pies

Ingredients

• 4 individual Australian style meat pies
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) tomato sauce or ketchup

Method

1. About 30 minutes before the soup is ready, heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Put the pies on the baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes if chilled, or as the packet directs if frozen.
2. Ladle about 1 cup (240 ml) of hot soup into each bowl. Turn each pie upside down and set it in the middle of the soup.
3. Squeeze or spoon a generous swirl of tomato sauce over each pie.

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