Chef Paul Correnty and his giant ladle on the opening day of the Farmers' Market. (Photo by Barbara Kemp)

Harvard residents won’t have to wait until the next town meeting to sample Chef Paul Correnty’s soups.

Correnty has provided soup lunches at town meetings for a number of years. Frequent requests  prompted Correnty to offer some of his soups at this season’s farmers’ market. All after-expenses proceeds will benefit the schools’ lunch programs.

Last Saturday found Correnty selling fresh quarts of fish chowder, gazpacho, and zucchini-with-basil soup with suggestions for pairing them with breads, sandwiches, and beverages.

An advocate of using local vendors, Correnty said he gathered many of his ingredients from local producers and processors—the Quarterdeck in Maynard, Kimball’s Fruit Farm in Pepperell, Littleton’s Springdale Farm, and Blood Farm in Groton.

“My mother was a great soup maker,” Correnty said, when asked about his interest in food. “But my real love of good food came when my family moved to the Cote d’Azur.” There the 14-year-old Miami boy discovered “dessert carts and French beaches.”