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Corn smut has 2 very different faces. That’s not something just everyone knows! One face is corn smut, the other is Huitlacoche. Which face you see, is dependent on where you live, and what you are trying to grow!
It is corn planting time, on the plains, and corn smut doesn’t show up for a few months, but I thought I’d share this now. So we’re all well informed by the time harvest comes along!
Now–I want you to take a look at what corn smut looks like on an ear of corn….if you’re not familiar with it.
Now I want you to look at what we, as corn farmers and eaters, are WANTING our ears to look like…in case you’re not familiar with it!! 🙂
We live out on the high plains, and my man is a farmer, through and through. And he works for farmers, who are farmers, through and through…….and we are surrounded by corn fields. Not literately, but there is lots of corn grown around here.
We also grow lots of sweet corn in our garden every year.
The goal of either–farmer or gardener, is to grow CORN! Sweet corn for gardeners, or field corn, for farmers, we want big beautiful ears of corn come harvest time!
Smut Ed
When an ear of corn gets damaged, either by weather, hail, animals or insects, and the conditions are just right, in walks smut….and if you’ve never seen it before, it is horrifying!
Imagine….as a new bride, going out to gather a few ears for supper and there, on your hard work and hope, is this GROWTH….this CREATURE! “On my beautiful corn!?! AACCKK!!”
After the first shock, and after your farmer husband explains what it is and why it’s there, it goes from horrifying, to fascinating…kind of…and then the new wears off, and smut becomes just a part of sweet corn harvest. Something to just chop off of your wounded ear of corn and throw away.
And while the approach to smut is different for field corn, the goal is the same…long, beautiful, full ears of corn–not smut. There are fungicides, and best practices to reduce or stop your fields from getting smut.
If you have a bit of farmer in you, here is an informative read about what the Pioneer seed company says about smut and how to lessen the problem in field corn.
Little did we know, that we’re “controlling,” and tossing away a delicacy…to the tune of $40 per pound! I haven’t done the math on whether the $40/ pound would cover the crop loss on a field of corn, but it is intriguing!
Read on!
Huitlacoche–The Other Face of Corn Smut
This is called: LEARNING SOMETHING NEW… expanding ones horizons! –and maybe (?!?) TRYING something new?
Huitlacoche “weet·luh·kow·chay”, also know as corn smut, or Mexican truffle – is a fungal growth on corn cobs that’s now considered a delicacy in Central Mexican cuisine.
There are farmers down south, in Mexico, that are growing big fields of corn, and planning on every ear being FULL of Huitlacoche!
Here is a VERY interesting video that shows the process the Huitlacoche farmers do to a field of corn to produce a harvest of this delicacy!! It is a very hands-on, sensitive process, and that is the reason it is so expensive!
UNLESS, that is, if you can grow it in your own garden–on accident, or otherwise!
I think I am going to try it the next time I find this treasure in my garden! Sauté it with your peppers and onions, and throw it on your quesadilla!
Do you have a recipe? Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried it or if you’re going to branch out and try it!
Glad you’re here, and thanks for coming!
Good Thoughts
“Food is the most primitive form of comfort.” – Sheila Graham.
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I really think that I am firmly in the throw it away camp, but then again, we eat mushrooms…
It was truly interesting, although gross, to look at and finding out about corn smut. And now we learn someone eats it. We do live and learn. Thank you, keep up the good work. :>) Granny