On a recent trip to Mexico we found "Huitlacoche Quesadillas" on the menu. Barnaby, being well-versed in Mexican cuisine, exclaimed, "Oooh! Corn smut!"
What the !?
Huitlacoche (pronounced wheat-la-co-chay) is a disease of corn caused by a fungus that infects the kernels creating mushroom-like tumors. The name huitlacoche comes from the Nahuatl (Aztecs) word reportedly meaning raven's exrement.
Hmm, it has "smut" in the name (something I generally only call my trashy magazines or some nasty thing that comes out of a drain), it's a disease, it has tumors, and the Aztecs called it bird crap.
Is your mouth watering yet? No? Mine wasn't either.
Farmers in most countries regard corn smut as a blight and spend great amounts of money to destroy it, but in Mexico it's considered a delicacy. I want to know who the brave soul was that ate it first. I decided to buck up and give it a try. It has an earthy mushroom-like flavor and is at once sweet and savory.
It was divine.
Look for it in Latin markets or buy it on Amazon.com.
