Preparation time

10 minutes

Total Time

30 mins

Difficulty

Easy

Serves

4 – 6

Ingredients:

6 pieces organic sweetcorn
1 head organic Thai garlic, peeled
1 small piece of organic Japanese pumpkin, skin removed
2 organic Thai potatoes, peeled and sliced
Filtered water to the 2 litre mark
1 tsp ‘Simply Natural’ French sea salt
A sprinkle of ‘Simply Natural’ organic red chilli flakes

Trim and remove leaves from the sweetcorn and cut off the sweetcorn kernels.
Peel the garlic and add with the olive oil to the Thermomix bowl.
Chop the garlic in the Thermomix and begin to sauté 20 mins, 98°C speed 1.
Add in the sweetcorn, sliced potatoes and pumpkin and continue to sauté for 8 mins.
Add in the filtered water to the 2 litre mark and cook for a further 12 minutes.
At the end of the program, blend, season garnish with chilli flakes and serve.

Sweetcorn (Zea mays) 甜玉米Tián yù mǐ is known as one of the ‘Three sisters’ of Native American cuisine and is thought to have been grown in the New World for over 9,000 years. It originated in all likelihood in Mexico and was dispersed very quickly and successfully by man as he diversified from hunter-gatherer to farming.

When the pilgrims began settling in America in the early 1600’s, sweetcorn, beans and pumpkin or squash formed the three basic staples of the indigenous peoples. Planted together, corn provided a framework for the beans to grow and squash plants spread over the ground helping to retain moisture and prevent weeds and later providing mulch to enrich the soil with humus.

In this soup we have taken 2 of the sisters and added potato, another ingredient from the Americas. The result is a rich, creamy aromatic sweetness that will make a wonderful start to your Thanksgiving meal or even as a stand-alone soup.

One of the main nutritional benefits of sweetcorn is its high fibre content, beneficial to both the cardiovascular and digestive systems. It also contains starch and small amounts of sucrose, ~18% dry weight. Perhaps because of the high fibre content it still ranks as having a low to medium glycemic index.

Sweetcorn adds B vitamins to the diet and a fair array of minerals, as well as a higher amount of antioxidants than the majority of other cereals. Most notably it contains the anti-inflammatory agent ferulic acid which helps reduce inflammation in the body as well as zeaxanthin and lutein carotenoids which are linked to improved eye health.

Credits: Ceri, Zenxin master chef

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