Smut Tuesday

Minds out of the gutter...today's topic - Corn Smut! We picked our first harvest of sweet corn the other day and cracked open a few ears to check them and most of them looked just great.

And then I heard a hushed 'whoa...' from within the cornstalks and found Rog staring down at this...

We poked at it for a bit as little fungal spores wafted into the air and somehow this triggered a memory from many late nights watching Andrew Zimmern eat weird shit. 'Wait' I exclaimed, 'I think its edible', remembering that in Mexico it is considered a delicacy and I vaguely recall seeing someone fry it up and put it in tacos. As usual, Rog doesn't believe me, since he is the resident nature trivia guy, not me. So this prompted a little research.

Corn smut, or huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE) is apparently packed with unique proteins, minerals and other nutritional goodies and is far more valuable than the corn on which it grows. It translates loosely to 'devil's poo'...sound appetizing yet? With a flavor described as nutty and earthy with a hint of fruity sweetness, the fungus is loaded with lysine which helps to fight infections and strengthen bones and may play a role in building muscle and keeping our skin looking younger. 

Facts about corn smut:

1) The smut spores are blown long distances by the wind and are particularly prevalent when there is much dust in the air.Check! We live in a flat wind tunnel.

2) They will germinate readily in the drainings from barnyard manure. Check! Poop abounds here...

3) Hot dry seasons are favorable for the growth of the fungus. Check! Can you say, drought?

4) Prevented by breaking off the pods before they burst and release the black powdery spores. Check! You mean those spores we poked and prodded at and allowed to trickle into the ground?

Are we on to something here? Soon will we see quarts of smut at Walmart? Or at least Whole Foods? I've read that these 'Mexican Truffles' are popping up in upscale restaurants all over the country now, but I doubt it will reach worldwide appeal, simply based on appearances and ability to freshly preserve it. Canned it has the appearance of a slimy cancerous black lung and I've got to believe it has a serious funk to it.

So did we try it? No, not this time. Maybe next year. Kind of like our first year in goats when we refused to eat any of them. Next year may be full of huitlacoche tacos, huitlacoche quesadillas, huitlacoche stir fry, huitlacoche salads, boiled huitlacoche, broiled huitlacoche, fried huitlacoche, huitlacoche sandwiches huitlacoche at the Harvest Party... For now, we'll leave it to the experts.We did, however, decide to live on the edge and break off the affected ends and eat the rest of the corn. And we tossed some of the fungus puffs into the pig pen so they could 'hunt' them from under the straw. They seemed to enjoy it...