Flower soup. How fragrant and delicate that sounds. In Mexico they use the flower of the courgette or the squash. There are many different versions of this soup, with corn, with mushrooms, with chicken; my version is vegetarian. How to get hold of the flowers? They aren’t cheap unfortunately, and I’ve yet to see a supermarket that sells them. Befriend a gardener, they may, if they have a good crop, sacrifice some of their courgettes or pumpkins. Once you pick the flowers, the plant won’t fruit. (Update: a reader suggested asking for the male flowers, the big ones without the courgette attached, as they don’t fruit). Or grow your own…we will be explaining how at the Secret Garden Garden ‘Food of the Americas’ session on the first of September. Buy tickets here, £30 for the gardening workshop and supper.
Accompanied with corn tortillas, this soup makes a hearty starter or main course for high summer.
Ingredients:
1 ancho chilli, seeds removed and split in half
2 red peppers
75 g unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 corn on the cobs, corn kernals removed
4 baby courgettes, sliced lengthways into quarters, or 2 large courgettes, sliced into rounds
300 g button mushrooms, finely sliced
10 squash or courgette flowers, the stems and interior sepals removed and torn into strips
a handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
corn tortillas, to serve
Method:
Find the rest of this recipe on the Good Food Channel here.
A word about chillis:
We tend not to be able to grow or buy the correct fresh Mexican chillis
in the UK so we are obliged to buy the dried versions. ( I feel like Elizabeth David in the 1950s complaining about not being able to buy fresh herbs or olive oil in the UK. I do hope suppliers start to grow things that cooks actually want: poblanos, tomatillos, yuzu.)
in the UK so we are obliged to buy the dried versions. ( I feel like Elizabeth David in the 1950s complaining about not being able to buy fresh herbs or olive oil in the UK. I do hope suppliers start to grow things that cooks actually want: poblanos, tomatillos, yuzu.)
In this recipe, we would normally use three poblano chillis which are large and
mild, rather like a smoky green pepper. I’ve replaced that with the dried
version ‘Ancho’ which is readily available on food websites e.g:
http://www.capsicana.co.uk/shop/whole-chillies
mild, rather like a smoky green pepper. I’ve replaced that with the dried
version ‘Ancho’ which is readily available on food websites e.g:
http://www.capsicana.co.uk/shop/whole-chillies
The technique with dried chillis is this: Removing the stem and seeds,
splitting it and briefly dry roasting it on the hob until it slightly changes
colour, then soak it in a little hot water (enough to cover the chilli) for ten
minutes until soft. Then I grind it up in a food processor or in a mortar and pestle and add to my dish.
splitting it and briefly dry roasting it on the hob until it slightly changes
colour, then soak it in a little hot water (enough to cover the chilli) for ten
minutes until soft. Then I grind it up in a food processor or in a mortar and pestle and add to my dish.
The Little Dinner Lady
August 20, 2013 at 9:37 amLove the idea of such a flowery soup! I know you're not so near, but there is an awesome pick your own farm called Garsons in Esher where you can buy courgette flowers for 19p each!
Kerstin Rodgers
August 20, 2013 at 5:13 pmYou are so lucky! They cost me at least £1.50p each from my supplier…
Sarah Moore
August 20, 2013 at 7:30 pmI've got a lot of male flowers at the moment so I may just give this a go! (not to mention sweetcorn, also from my three sisters garden but that's too good to put in soup)
Could I just use ordinary green chillis? The supermarket ones that are very mild?
Kerstin Rodgers
August 21, 2013 at 10:41 pmYou could but it will lack that slightly smokey taste that poblanos, anchos have…it may also be too hot?
Kitchen Shaman
August 1, 2016 at 9:35 pmSquash blossoms are in the height of season in my neck of the world, Arizona, USA. Its unfortunate you have to pay such a high price for these beautiful delicacies. This looks like an amazing soup, thank you for sharing.
Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover
August 2, 2016 at 10:34 amThe ones for this soup were from my garden but yes they are far too expensive here. Love Southern American cuisine.