As I was driving home I passed a road-side produce stand. The owner was packing up the cart for the night. On an impulse I pulled a sharp turn and parked.
"Do you have any corn smut?" I asked as I paid for some fresh tomatoes.
He looks at me in disbelief. "Corn smut? What do you want with that?"
"I want to cook it."
"Cook it?"
"Yeah. It's considered a delicacy in Mexico."
"I never knew that. Learn something new every day."
So we stand there talking about corn smut. He shows me an ear of corn with a small spot of it. I ask him it he's found any large chunks. He tells me about the one that looked like a large mouse he found yesterday. The average corn buyer is, apparently, is a bit squeamish about corn smut. Well, it sure is ugly, but it's not poisonous. He promises to set aside any ears with large corn smut growths.
"What do you want corn smut for?" another last-minute customer asks as she pays for her corn.
"She wants to cook with it," the corn seller explains with disbelief.
"It's eaten in Mexico," I add.
"Really? Well I've never heard such a thing. You learn somthing new every day."
Yes, yes indeed.
Whenever my husband goes to Mexico on business, he comes back with cuitlacoche for me to cook with. He adores cuitlacoche quesadillas.
Posted by: Dana | July 25, 2006 at 10:46 PM
When we grew our own corn 10 or more years ago, we ended up with some corn smut. I tried to cook with it, but didn't have much luck - can't even remember what sources I consulted. Let us know what results you get!
Posted by: Tricia | July 25, 2006 at 11:08 PM
You have to pay through the nose for "huitlacoche" at fashionable San Francisco restaurants where it is sometimes referred to as "corn truffle"
Posted by: sam | July 25, 2006 at 11:16 PM
You have to pay through the nose for "huitlacoche" at fashionable San Francisco restaurants where it is sometimes referred to as "corn truffle"
Posted by: sam | July 25, 2006 at 11:16 PM
I'm curious -- what are you planning to cook?
Posted by: Lydia | July 26, 2006 at 10:46 AM
Reading this blog forever and this is my first post. Hi Kitchen Chick!!!
I have a terrible fear of corn smut having grown up a few miles from the main Green Giant canning plant in Tecumseh Ontario.
They would sell corn at a roadside stand at 10cents Canadian an ear or a dollar a dozen. But you had to be careful and my mother would smack the corn smut infested ears (which look very disgusting) out of my hands.
But if Kitchen Chick cooks it I'll try corn smut much to the chagrin of my mother I am sure.
Posted by: John S. | July 26, 2006 at 07:27 PM
so whats corn smut?
Posted by: Gustad Mody | July 27, 2006 at 11:17 AM