Posted on 10/25/2021 5:24:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Huitlacoche is a fungus that consumes its host — corn — and transforms it into another food altogether. If you’ve never seen it before, it might be a startling sight. But look beyond the unfamiliar, and you’ll find a treat.
In fact, for the past couple of weeks, a scrum of excited chefs has surrounded the McGrath Family Farms table at the Santa Monica farmers market due to the unexpected appearance of fresh huitlacoche (pronounced whee-tla-KOH-cheh), a fungus caused by ustilago maydis, which feeds on ears of corn.
Called corn smut or Mexican truffle, the fungus is considered a delicacy like a rare mushroom or truffle. Its aroma is seductive, and its flavor is like a pungent corn-flavored mushroom. The fungus grows around the kernels like velvety clouds, ranging in color from light blue to navy. It can be eaten raw like mushrooms or cooked. The application of heat turns it a dramatic black.
Although some farmers work to keep their corn fields from becoming infected, McGrath’s is experimenting with creating a home for the spores, so that chefs have a ready supply of the rarity. It’s a value-added crop worth more than uninfected ears. The season for fresh huitlacoche goes from May to November, depending on the weather. Nutritionally it has more protein than corn and contains the essential amino acid lysine.
The word huitlacoche is Nahuatl, the living Aztec language still spoken by approximately 1.7 million people in Central Mexico and the U.S. The fungus also has a history with Indigenous people of the Southwest. Hopi and Zuni tribes have used it for millenia for ceremonial, medicinal and culinary purposes.
When you see huitlacoche on restaurant menus around town, it’s nearly always canned, jarred or frozen, and black in color. Once preserved, it has a watery texture, yet it’s still worth pursuing. I see it most often in quesadillas and tacos. I once did a dinner using it in my bechamel-based lasagne with a bit of Mexican oregano-inflected tomato sauce, and it was delicious.
With the small amount of locally farmed fresh huitlacoche at a premium, chefs are using it in ways to maximize the small quantity they were able to get.
I learned about this recently, and tried to get interested in it.
But something about it remains revolting to me.
(And I love mushrooms!)
Fungus and scum are two words that I don’t care to see on the menu.
Looks disgusting.
I’m always impressed how folks manage to market failures. Here, a bad crop is sold as a new food.
I suspect spiral sliced ham was the result of a miscalibrated deboner.
I prefer bleu cheese.
Try it with a bit of ergot on the side.
What does it transform the human digestive tract into?
A second group of sources deem the word to mean “raven’s excrement”.[7][8] These sources appear to be combining the word cuitlacoche for “thrasher”[9] with cuitla, meaning “excrement”,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_smut
Do you ever wonder what inspires someone to try something for the first time? Were they just hungry enough to try anything?
Because I look at that and think 🤢
Reminds me of Chinese “1000 year old eggs” - produced by pickling eggs in salt, lime and ash.
The fable of the origin is: A farmer had some eggs that a horse pissed on. He didn’t eat them at first, but then when a famine struck, he decided he had no choice. He ate them and found out they were delicious.
Doesn’t that make you want to run out and try them???!!
Drunk would be my bet.
‘He was a bold man that first ate an oyster!’
Jonathan Swift
“Huitlacoche is a fungus that consumes its host “
Like Democrats?
Like Civet coffee...
Hey look, a civet pooped, let’s see what it tastes like as a drink!
I’ve had this a few times and it tastes great (as I had it in tacos and quesadillas).
It is toxic in more than small quantities, though.
I love mushrooms, I bet I’d love this.
Sounds like a good description.
Or you could just keep eating butter and mayonaise. 😉
I’ve seen this before in my corn patch. I burned it thinking it was some form of corn cancer.
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