Squash Soup - Local, Seasonal Sourcing (unedited)

The original squash soup recipe was created at Treadwell, a Farm-to-Table restaurant – not a new type of cuisine, but rather a revisiting of an old one.  Though it began out of necessity – country folk eating only what they could produce themselves, barter for, or buy at the local market – it was recaptured in the last few decades by a generation of Europeans (and more recently, Westerners) seeking to reconnect with the land and rebel against internationalism.  Bolstered by recent publications, such as the Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, and promoted by organizations – Slow Food and CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) networks, for example – there is an emerging mandate to know and appreciate where foods come from. 

Farm-to-Table chefs commercialize that desire.  By relying on local artisans and fresh seasonal produce to determine the menu, and by preparing and plating the foods simply to preserve the sensual impact of each ingredient, chefs showcases the best their region has to offer.  Treadwell maple-roasted squash soup does just that.

A reoccurring daily soup special from September to December – prime squash season in Niagara – maple-roasted squash soup celebrates the vegetable’s best qualities.  The roasting helps convert much of its starch into sugar, reduces water content, and thus heightens and concentrates its flavour.  Its natural sweetness is further augmented by the maple syrup that caramelizes in the oven, the apples – another seasonal ingredient – and by the salt used to enhance via contrast.  The creamy texture of the soup helps it coat the inner surfaces of the mouth and throat and allows the eater to fully experience the soup by stimulating more taste buds and by having better access to the olfactory receptors.

My maple-roasted squash soup recipe gained international recognition when I served it in the North House, on the National Mall in Washington D.C..  The dinner party was one of the events at the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a semi-annual solar-powered house competition.  The meal was to be cooked and hosted in the house, according to the rules, and was to be consistent with the (self-imposed) North House objective to represent a healthy, environmentally sensitive, Canadian lifestyle.  The revised soup recipe was a perfect fit: it was nutritionally balanced yet tasted of indulgence, used ingredients locally sourced and seasonal in both southern Ontario (where North House was designed and built) and Washington D.C., and featured maple syrup, a trademark Canadian product.