Maize Mushroom

Reader Contribution by Mary Lou Shaw
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I really enjoy finding “free” food. I planted Jerusalem artichokes in the chicken yard so that the chickens

would have shade and a hiding place from hawks. Now I enjoy eating the artichoke tubers. Or, I enjoy getting black walnuts from the woods to the table, even though it’s a challenge to remove the outer cover, crack through the tough shell and attempt to separate nut from shell. The latest free-food discovery is the whitish stuff that blooms from the tops of some corn cobs in the garden. It has the unflattering name of “corn smut,” and I am delighted to report that it is a gourmet’s delight.

Wait a minute–corn smut edible? This suggestion at first sounded like a practical joke, but when I saw my visiting daughter’s eyes light up at the possibility of finding it in our garden, I gave it a chance. She is an archeologist who works summers in the Yucatan, and she swears that Mexican people consider it a delicacy. They even buy it in cans. I’ve never successfully grown or harvested mushrooms, so this is my chance.

First of all, Mexicans don’t call it “corn smut.” In Mayan, it’s known as “cuitlachoche,” or “huitlacoche.” To change our attitude, we’ll need a different name than “corn smut,” and maize mushroom seems sufficiently enticing. Next, we need to see it with new eyes. Long before it turns black, look at the corn kernels expanding and blanching. Like enlarging garlic cloves, they push through the husk and become apparent on the end of the cobs. Yummy–it’s harvest time!

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