Acadian
Acadian Corn Soup
A Simple, Milky, Golden Soup of the Harvest
Dr. Don J. Landry — The Cuisine of Acadia via acadian.orgA simple, milky, golden soup that celebrates the corn harvest — Soupe au Blé d'Inde is Acadian home cooking at its most honest: just a handful of seasonal ingredients, cooked with care, that together become something far greater than the sum of their parts.
Ingredients
- 3 cups diced potatoes
- 1½ cups corn kernels (fresh or canned)
- 3 cups salted water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 2 cups milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter (to finish)
Instructions
- Place the diced potatoes in a pot with the salted water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
- If using fresh corn, remove the kernels from the cob and add them to the pot with the potatoes for the last portion of cooking.
- While the potatoes cook, sauté the diced onion in 2 teaspoons of butter in a separate pan until softened and translucent.
- Add the milk to the onion pan and heat the mixture gently until warm — do not boil.
- Pour the warm milk and onion mixture into the pot with the boiled potatoes and corn, including all of the cooking liquid.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Allow the soup to stand for a few minutes off the heat so the flavours can come together.
- Just before serving, stir in the final tablespoon of butter. Serve hot.
✦ Kitchen Notes
- Fresh corn in season is worth seeking out — it produces a brighter, sweeter flavour and the slight starchiness enriches the broth naturally.
- Do not discard the cooking liquid. The starchy water from boiling the potatoes and corn is an important part of the body of this soup.
- That final tablespoon of butter stirred in just before serving adds richness and a subtle sheen to the broth. Do not skip it.
- Pair with crusty bread or a warm biscuit — entirely traditional.