🇭🇷 Croatia · Istria
Maneštra s bobićiIstrian sweet corn soup
Maneštra made with young sweet corn kernels cut from the cob, with dried bacon or cured meat and, in many versions, potatoes and beans, often with a cob in the pot to be eaten afterwards.
Origin and history
Sweet corn maneštra (maneštra od bobići) is described by the Istrian tourist board as the most popular of the many maneštre. Great British Chefs says the name of maneštra echoes minestrone and that sweet corn is typical when it is in season. The sources give no date or origin for the sweet corn form.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 35 min
Ingredients
- 500 g3 cups young sweet corn kernels (bobići), cut from about 3 fresh cobs; frozen corn works out of season
- 2 whole sweet corn cobs, optional, to eat after the soup
- 100 g1/2 cup dried beans, soaked overnight and drained
- 500 g1.1 lb potatoes, peeled, diced
- 100 g3.5 oz dried bacon (slanina), finely chopped
- 100 g3.5 oz dried ham or prosciutto (pršut), diced; a prosciutto bone is even better
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 small bunch parsley and celery leaves, chopped
- 50 ml3 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 l2 quarts water
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
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1. Stand a corn cob upright and slice the kernels off with a knife, then scrape the milky pulp from the cob with the back of a spoon into the bowl with the kernels.
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2. Put the drained beans in a pot with the water and the dried ham or bone. Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes.
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3. Chop the bacon, garlic and half of the parsley together into a coarse paste and stir it into the pot.
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4. Add the potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.
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5. Add the corn kernels and pulp, the whole cobs if using, and the celery leaves. Simmer for another 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the corn is tender but still sweet.
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6. Crush a few spoonfuls of potato against the side of the pot to thicken the soup, then season with salt and pepper.
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7. Take out the bone, stir in the olive oil and remaining parsley, and serve with bread, eating the whole cobs afterwards.
Notes
- The Istrian tourist board calls sweet corn the most popular maneštra. Young kernels are cut from the cob and the milky pulp scraped off with a spoon; whole cobs in the pot become a sweet snack after the soup.
- It differs from the base maneštra by having corn as the main ingredient and only a little bean, and no browned flour or tomato. The Fažana list used here has potatoes; the Great British Chefs and Chasing the Donkey versions have no potato at all but beans, pork ribs, a ham bone, tomato, vinegar and a little pasta, so potato is not essential.
- Frozen or canned corn makes the soup possible all year, though it is sweeter and less starchy than fresh young corn.
- Ground-corn maneštra, made from corn meal, is a separate form that the tourist board says is eaten less today.
Adapted from Fažana Tourist Board (Info Fažana): sweet corn maneštra (ingredient list), Istrian Tourist Board (Istra.hr): Istarska maneštra, and Great British Chefs: Maneštra od bobići (method).
At the festivals
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