The Former Curse Of Corn Smut Is Becoming Its Own Lucrative Crop

FEB. 18, 2015

Corn Smut 

(In Nahua: "Huitlacoche," or "Raven's Excrement")

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_smut

BY CHRIS BENJAMIN

An unsightly fungal disease called corn smut strikes fear in the hearts of American and Canadian farmers. When it appears as fleshy, grayish galls on cobs, it can cause, in some cases, a 20 percent loss of marketable crop.

Yet, in Mexico, corn smut is a time-tested delicacy, known as huitlacoche(pronounced wheat-la-ko-chay). Ancient petroglyphs depict infected ears of corn, for instance, and indigenous subsistence farmers in Mexico and Central America ate the smut because they couldn’t afford to let a crop rot.

As it turns out, the hideous growth is nutritious and delicious, with a rich, aromatic flavor singular to the fungus (Ustilago maydis). Compared with corn, huitlacoche also contains a much greater amount of the amino acid lysine, which subsistence farmers would have been hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

“Lysine is an essential amino acid [that appears] in extremely low quantities in cereal-based diets,” says Mexican biotechnologist Octavio Paredes López, who has worked on numerous studies on huitlacoche. What’s more, huitlacoche is “one of the foods with the greatest content of [lysine],” according to an article in the journal Revista Iberoamericana de Micología.

No one seems to know why huitlacoche never caught on farther north, says Parades López. But its popularity is starting to spread. Canadian molecular biologist Barry Saville, for one, has become smitten with smut.

Molecular biologist Barry Saville cultivates corn smut on a half-acre plot in Ontario. Courtesy of Barry Saville

Saville’s research at Trent University focuses on how to protect corn from fungal infections. But a few years ago, during a scientific conference in Mexico, he tried sautéed huitlachoche with scrambled eggs on corn tortilla. The fungus dazzled his taste buds.

Saville now sees food production in a new light. “People feel we must have absolutely pure, pristine produce without blemishes,” he says. But “even things we initially consider undesirable can be used to great benefit.”

For two years, Saville has been inoculating corn with the fungus on a half-acre plot in Peterborough, Ontario. He hopes innovative farmers can one day benefit from a corn smut market. “We prefer to call it corn mushroom or corn truffle when we’re talking about eating it,” he says. Tastes better that way.

Saville cultivates smut by injecting a liquid containing the fungus onto corn silks. The fungus then uses the silks to grow down into the kernels, where it fuses with the corn, resulting in a hybrid growth on the surface.

Researchers in Indiana cultivated smut a decade ago, according to Saville, but he hasn’t found any follow-through in terms of marketing the product. Saville is the first Canadian to foster the fungus; his version of smut combines a fungal richness with the sweetness of northern corn.

Saville’s huitlacoche has been a hit at La Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant in Peterborough. “People travel so much now and they are looking for unique, healthy foods that come from the land,” says La Hacienda owner and chef Sandra Arciniega. She has sold huitlacoche in quesadillas, tamales, and soups. 

Saville is also working with the culinary school at nearby Fleming College, which has created several recipes for private tastings and is working on a new concoction—a spreadable pate—for specialty shops.

Saville hopes that local farms will eventually adopt his inoculation methods and be able to harvest smut without his oversight. The market is there, he says. Indeed, a single infected cob can reap $8-10 (Canadian)—16-20 times the price of regular corn. While Saville admits that “going to mass production is going to be somewhat difficult,” his goal is to one day see huitlacoche selling in large quantities in Canada. Good things can come in ghastly packages.

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Huitlacoche History - Blight Or Delicacy?

The Aztec named this dark growth found on corn huitlacoche which translates (rather bluntly and literally) to "ravens excrement". Although the name provided is not overly appetizing the Aztec's fashioned the fungus into dishes of crepes, soups, and tamales.

American farmers call it "smut" and "devil's corn" and consider it a disease to be irradiated. The peoples of Mexico as well as the American Hopi Indians consider the fungus a delightful delicacy.

According to Betty Fussell in her book The Story of Corn, the Hopi call the corn fungus nanha and collect when it is young and tender, par boil it for 10 minutes then sautéd in butter until crisp.

The Zuni Indians call the corn fungus corn-soot and say it symbolizes the "generation of life".

The French call it goitre du mais. It is unclear if it is eaten in France.

Today in Mexico the product is actually cultivated each season providing an ample supply to be eaten fresh, then frozen and canned. While the product is not easy to find in the U.S. most typically huitlacoche can be purchased canned.

Another interesting story told by Ms. Fussell is that of a dinner presented by the James Beard House in New York City in 1989. The purpose was to give Americans a tasting of the corn smut but with a new name "Mexican Truffle". The menu was created by Josefina Howard of Rosa Mexicano restaurant and included huitlacoche appetizers, soup, crepes, tortilla torte, and even an huitlacoche ice cream. 

Huitlacoche The Mexican Corn Truffle

Huitlacoche (also spelled cuitlacoche) is a fungus which grows naturally on ears of corn (Ustilago maydis). The fungus is harvested and treated as a delicacy. The earthy and somewhat smoky fungus is used to flavor quesadillas, tamales, soups and other specialty dishes

How To Prepare Fresh Huitlacoche

If you live in an area with a large corn crop, or if you have a garden you may find fresh huitlacoche. Here are some preparation instructions.

Preparation Carefully pull the husks away from the ear of corn and remove them. Pull away the corn silks and discard. Use a sharp knife and cut the corn kernels from the cob slicking close to the cob as possible keeping your knife parallel to the cob. Remove any additional corn silks that still adhere to the huitlacoche. Roughly chop the huitlacoche (there will be bits of corn adhered to the product).

The huitlacoche can be prepared (cooked) with garlic and chiles and used in crepes, quesadillas, or tacos. Or the product can be used "fresh" in soups or stews.

Read more from GourmetSleuth.com: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/articles/detail/huitlacoche#ixzz3Sdef5Cvo