Traditions continued: Popcorn Soup, a sign of Christmas

 Alongside the Chocolate Pudding I realise we have another food tradition at Christmas- popcorn soup. More than one person seemed intrigued, so here we are.

Usually served as a starter for Christmas dinner at our house, but in these strange times we had it as part of a light lunch this year. I didn’t make it, my only contribution was to pop the popcorn (used as croutons and very popular with children at the Christmas dinner table) and argue with my mother about the seasoning. 

This year my Dad made it the day before (up to a certain point. He was supposed to do the sieving too, but ‘forgot’...). It does well if you get most of it out of the way the day before, for parts of it can be a fankle on a busy kitchen day like Christmas. 

Anyway. I’ve dug out my copy of the recipe (tbh I don’t really look at it anymore, but I have a copy that includes notes from my mum on technique). Here it is:

Serves 8-10 

1 large (Spanish) onion

1-2 oz butter, or oil

2 cans creamed corn

1 can sweetcorn in water (drained) [Mum note: If you can’t find creamed corn you can use all niblets, but the sieving will be much harder!] [Me note: the further we get from the 1970s, the harder tinned creamed corn is to locate!!]

1-2 pints chicken or vegetable stock

1 large or 2 small bay leaves

Scant 1 pint of milk

1/2 teaspoon mace, or 1/4 each of mace & ginger

Salt & white pepper 

Chop onions quite small [Me note: or grab chopped onions from the freezer...] & sweat in the butter or oil. When softened add the cans of corn, stock and bay leaf. Simmer until quite soft [Mum note: approx. 45 mins to 1 hour, or longer if you have time]. Remove the bay leaf. 

Liquidise well in batches (I refer you to my earlier soup post & tips on ignoring Kenwood mixer liquidiser safety warnings regarding hot liquids), then sieve into a clean pot. 

[Mum note: This is quite hard work. Use a Kenwood or food processor sieve if you have one [Me note: My gran had one for the Major, sadly this Kenwood accessory seems to be discontinued. Shame]. Otherwise a mouli. Or a metal sieve with a round wooden pusher like a darning mushroom or large wooden spoon. There will still be quite a lot of husks in your sieve but they should be quite dry & empty. You can return the mush to the liquidiser, add boiling water and then process and squidge through the sieve again. The more you sieve, the better the flavour but the soup may seem more ‘gritty’ and not so smooth & velvety.]

The sieving my dad 'forgot' to do. Being done by mum & mouli, which my mum bought in France, basically just for this soup...

[Me note: If you're doing this in advance, now is where you halt. When you are ready to continue gently warm up your sieved soup in its clean pot and carry on from below]

Add the milk, ginger/mace and heat through. Season to taste with salt and WHITE pepper [Me note: My gran and mum were/are adamant that pale soups require white pepper. It's a Thing, go with it rather than argue].

Serve with a bowl of popped corn to garnish like croutons. [Mum note: Beware! They go soggy quite quickly, so put the bowl on the table for guests to pass round and serve themselves rather than dishing the garnish in the kitchen].

I popped the corn. And added more ginger.

[Final Mum Notes:

Gluten free if stock cube is gluten free. Dairy free if made with almond, coconut or soya milk (No nuts for under-twos!!)

Turmeric or mustard are also good seasonings for this soup [Me note: I disagree. Mustard is hideous in all forms].

A sprig or sprinkling of chopped parsley on each bowl, or the tureen, looks good too.]

Popcorn soup. A sign of Christmas.