In London, there is a phrase, still sometimes used : "it's a pea-souper today". It refers to the particular brown London fog that used to cover the streets from the local factories back in Charles Dickens's time. Pea soup in those days was reminiscent of this thick brown fog and Dickens's himself, called it London Particular in his book Bleak House. I first found this information in Mark Hix's book, British Regional Food and even I remember how much I hated this soup as a child for the same reasons, it was thick, brown and tasteless.
