[Sca-cooks] Soupe du jour -- nota bene

[marilyn traber 011221]

> Well, okay. Thanks!
> 
> I knew the canned stuff didn't have the same proportions of the kind 
>  of stuff I'd put in "creamed corn" or "creamed anything else" if I  
> were making The Real McCoy, but I didn't realize those things would  
> be totally absent. And I still think the sugar makes a big difference.
> 
> SWMBO came home and ate the soup without complaint. I asked if it 
> was  all right, and she said, and I quote, "Hey, what do I know 
> about  barbarian food?"
> 
> Adamantius

I think you're confusing the classic French recipe with what New World 
farming types do. I strongly suspect that you may never have had truly fresh 
corn in your life- it's not something that urban folks get, since corn 
noticeably loses a considerable amount of its freshness within an hour of 
picking- it's even noticeable after 15 minutes or so. Most city folks are 
lucky to get corn less than a day or three old.

The original "recipe" that the canned stuff is attempting to imitate, is 
fresh ears, the kernals immediately cut off the cobs and heated in its own 
milk and eaten. Because the canned stuff is also relatively old, the canners 
attempt to imitate the delectable fresh corn by adding the starch, water, and 
sugar, then cooking in the canning process.

Fresh sweet corn is very sweet- even the not-so-sweet varieties are sweeter 
than what most urban types are used to getting, because once picked, the 
kernals immediately start converting the sugars to starch. Country folks 
talking about boiling the water, going into the garden, picking the ears, and 
stripping tham on the way back and dumping them into the boiling water aren't 
kidding- the quick immersion in the hot water stops the conversion process, 
and you lucky diner gets corn almost as sweet as candy.

You're a chef, not a farmer, oh beloved UUY ;-) Some things just don't 
translate into the big city ;-)

Phlip