Place the smoked pork into a large pot with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Pour the broth and water over the meat. You can add all the liquid or add just enough to cover the pork and then add more liquid later. You can also make this soup vegetarian by omitting the pork, skipping this step, use vegetable broth and move on to adding the split peas to the liquid.

Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes. Strain the broth through a paper towel or cheesecloth lined, fine mesh sieve.

Return the liquid to the pot and add the split peas. Cook for another 30-40 minutes, at a simmer.

When the meat is cool enough to handle, take the meat off the bone.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt, and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are translucent and soft.

Add the carrots, celery and garlic to the onions. Season with salt and cook for 5-7 minutes.

After cooking the split peas for 30-40 minutes, they should start to disintegrate. Add the potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the soup. Cook for about 30 minutes more, until the potatoes have cooked through and the split peas have completely disintegrated.

You can adjust the thickness of the soup to your liking, add more broth to make it thinner, or cook it longer so more liquid evaporates. Add the meat back to the soup.

Serve the soup with croutons.