Author Topic: Huitlacoche/Corn Smut  (Read 3880 times)

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Offline The15thMember

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Huitlacoche/Corn Smut
« on: August 06, 2022, 05:20:41 pm »
We managed to grow a couple ears of sweet corn this year, and we picked them earlier in the week.  One of them was . . . unique looking to say the least.  :D  Anyone ever seen this in their corn before?


We did some looking online about it and it's apparently called corn smut.  It's a fungus which infects the kernels of the corn and basically takes them over, turning them into mushroom-like galls that produce spores.  This fungus is completely edible and is very popular in Mexico, where it's been eaten since Aztec times.  They call it Huitlacoche, and in English it's called Mexican truffle in food circles, since "corn smut" isn't very appetizing.  :-\  We pulled the galls off the cob and sauteed them in a little butter and salt, and honestly it was pretty good.  Some of our galls were a little too old and were mostly black inside with spores, which tasted bitter, but the young white ones had a nice flavor, sort of part mushroom, part corn.

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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Huitlacoche/Corn Smut
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2022, 10:14:29 am »
That's interesting.  I've never seen that before.
I always wonder what causes someone to attempt to eat something so unappealing.  Starvation?  Observing an animal eat it and not dying? 

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Huitlacoche/Corn Smut
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2022, 08:15:12 pm »
That's interesting.  I've never seen that before.
I always wonder what causes someone to attempt to eat something so unappealing.  Starvation?  Observing an animal eat it and not dying?
I don't know.  Growing maize was a very important part of Aztec civilization, so they would have probably encountered huitlacoche pretty frequently.  I guess you could ask that question about a lot of foods.  :)
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.