Bajio Cream of Squash Blossom (Crema de Flor de Calabaza)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Comal or open flame for roasting chile poblano
• •Heavy clay cazuela from the Bajio or a Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Wooden spoon
• •Warm clay bowls for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the blossoms

   Open each squash blossom gently and remove the stem and pistil. Shake out any dirt or small insects, then wipe with a barely damp cloth if needed. Do not soak them. These flowers bruise like herbs, and water steals their perfume before the pot even sees them. Reserve a small handful of the prettiest petals for serving.

2. 2

   Roast the poblanos

   Roast the chile poblanos directly over a gas flame, on a comal, or under a broiler until the skins blister and blacken in patches. Put them in a covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel, seed, and chop them. Poblano is the correct chile here: green, mild, a little grassy. Do not replace it with jalapeno and then complain that the soup lost its manners.

   Leave a few dark specks of roasted skin if they cling. They give the soup a quiet roasted flavor. Big sheets of burned skin make the crema bitter.
3. 3

   Sweat the base

   In a heavy clay cazuela or Dutch oven, melt the butter with the manteca de cerdo over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. The fat carries the sweetness of the onion into the soup. La manteca es el sabor, even when the dish is gentle.

4. 4

   Simmer the corn

   Add the corn kernels and chopped roasted poblanos. Stir until the corn looks glossy and the poblano stains the fat green. Pour in the broth, add the ramita de epazote, salt, and black pepper, then bring to a low simmer. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the corn is tender but still has a little bite. Epazote is not parsley. It is epazote. Use the right herb.

5. 5

   Add the flowers

   Add the squash blossoms and stir just until they collapse into the broth, 3 to 4 minutes. The color will soften from bright yellow-orange to a deep milpa green-gold. Remove the epazote stem. If you cook the flowers for half an hour, you will have a beige soup that tastes like regret. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Blend the crema

   Transfer about two-thirds of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth, holding the lid firmly with a towel. Return it to the pot with the remaining chunky third. This gives body without erasing the corn and blossoms completely. A Bajio home cook still wants to see what the field gave her.

7. 7

   Temper the dairy

   Lower the heat. Whisk the room-temperature crema with the warm milk in a bowl, then ladle in a little hot soup while whisking. Stir this mixture back into the pot. Keep the soup below a boil for 5 minutes. Boiling splits the crema, and then the soup looks tired. Taste for salt. It should be creamy, floral, gently green, and clean.

8. 8

   Serve in clay

   Ladle into warm clay bowls. Finish with crumbled queso ranchero and a few thin strips of raw squash blossom. Set warm corn tortillas on the table in a cloth-lined chiquihuite. This is not a soup for cheddar, sour cream, or flour tortillas. Cada estado, su propia cocina. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy squash blossoms early in the morning. By noon they are tired. At Mercado Hidalgo in Guanajuato or Mercado de la Cruz in Queretaro, ask the women which flowers came in that day. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •If squash blossoms are not in season, do not make this soup right now. Cook quelites, calabacitas, or a mild sopa queretana instead. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today.
• •Chile guajillo, chilcuague, xoconostle, and cacahuazintle all belong to the broader Bajio and central Mexican pantry, but not every ingredient belongs in every pot. This crema needs chile poblano, epazote, corn, and dairy crema. Forcing guajillo into it would turn a flower soup into a different dish.
• •Use real Mexican crema from cow's milk, not sour cream. Sour cream is sharper and heavier. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •For a dinner party, serve small portions first. This soup is rich. Follow it with something from the same region: enchiladas mineras from Guanajuato, mole de conejo from the Sierra Gorda, or borrego al vapor if you have the patience.

Advance Preparation

• •The poblano chiles can be roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped one day ahead. Refrigerate them covered.
• •The soup base can be made through the corn simmer up to one day ahead. Add the squash blossoms and crema only on serving day.
• •Do not freeze this soup. Dairy crema and squash blossoms both suffer in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)