This smut has some redeeming qualities!
With this cool damp weather, our modest little vegetable garden is
even more humble than it might have been. We tend it just the same though,
what little morsels we can, a few beans, tomatoes, some huge cabbages. We
are still pretty new to the game so there are always some surprises.
The corn has not been great, but I went looking for ripe ears the other day
and discovered the dampness had fostered a real nasty growth on one big cob.
Distended gray-blue kernels like ghostly babies' fingers tangled in the silky
hairs. When I touched it, a digit dropped off revealing the blackness within. Scary!
It was a fungus called "corn smut" (Ustilago maydis), probably the bane
of many corn farmers in weather like this. After I regained my composure,
and while I was trying to gross out the kids with the mutant cob, my lovely
wife reminded me that this was probably the very same fungus we had enjoyed
in fine restaurants in Mexico. There it is treasured as a delicacy known by
its ancient Aztec name "Huitlacoche"(it sounds a bit like "wit la coach, eh").
You can buy it in cans at Mexican specialty shops.
A quick google of the Web confirmed this and gave the additional
fact that the Aztec name translates as "raven's excrement". Too much
information perhaps, but all of a sudden "corn smut" didn't seem like
such a bad name after all and it almost sounds like fun compared to the
French "goitre du mais".
Of course I had resolved to eat it! Now, if you are grossed
out at this point you probably haven't put a lot of thought into what
your regular mushrooms grow on.
Online recipes suggested sauté-ing with onions, garlic and
chilies to fill tortillas or tamales (corn dumplings). These "Mexican truffles"
have a rich subtle mushroom-y flavour and this was my first chance to taste
them fresh, I thought more than a taco was in order!
I was inspired by the optimism of the rampant squashes that are making the
best of a bad situation and escaping from our composter. The result was the
tasty appetizer below. It was a bit labour intensive but I felt like I was
turning lead into gold.
Oro del Filosofo
(Stuffed Squash Flower Fritters with Huitalcoche and Goat Cheese)
(serves 4)
-1/2 red. Onion, chopped fine
-3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
-Several sprigs of fresh oregano
-1 small fresh hot pepper
(If your pepper is not hot enough supplement with whatever you've got, I used a dried,
smoked pepper, soaked overnight in vinegar and oil, and then chopped)
-Approx. 1.5-2 c. huitlacoche (gently cut from cob and separated gently from silk and corn)
-1 egg
-(2 Tbsp.) of soft goat cheese (or cream cheese or other soft cheese)
-1/2 c. cornstarch
-1 t. baking powder
-1/2 c. flour (non-wheat if desired)
-3 t. milk (non-dairy, if desired)
-Salt, to taste
-4 large fresh squash blossoms stems attached (picked the morning of serving, when
open. Store loosely in a large covered bowl in the fridge until needed)
Sufficient oil to float the stuffed blossomss
Chop onions and garlic and sauté until translucent.
Toss in peppers and oregano, as well as coarsely chopped huitlacoche (some other
fungus like oyster mushroom would also work).
Let mixture cool.
In morning, pick squash blossoms.
Stir goat cheese in with huitlacoche mixture.
Carefully spoon mixture into squash blossoms.
Fold tips of blossoms over into a pear shaped package.
Scramble egg with milk.
Mix cornstarch, baking powder, salt and flour in shaking bag.
Gently roll stuffed squash blossoms in egg mixture, and then fluff them gently in flour mixture. Set on drying rack (like a cookie rack).
Let sit for 10 minutes, then repeat;
Keep cool until ready to serve, gently turning. Dust with flour again if egg soaks through.
Just before serving make sure oil is good and hot
Deep-fry one at a time until golden-brown, turning regularly.
Dry on rack or paper towel for 5-7 minutes, serve hot.
