Huitlacoche

Huitlacoche. Corn smut. Or better yet - Mexican truffles. I'll go with that one. Its technically a disease or fungus living on a corn cob. I rather think of it as a corn mushroom. It is a highly regarded delicacy in Mexico. 

I'd heard of this a long time ago. It was in a hilarious article about weird foods like natto (fermented soy beans - nasty, slimy little buggers), pickled pork rinds and silkworm pupas. I wondered about it, but never thought I would actually be holding it one day. 

Fast forward to a few years later and here I am on a warm summer day in Wisconsin at our CSA owner's farm taking a tour of their corn fields, and I hear Mike talk about huitlacoche. I jumped on the opportunity and asked if I could have one of those fine fungus laden cobs. Quite a looker.

I read up on it once we got home. Seemed like quesadillas were the most commonly traditional dish to make with this.

I "shucked" the fungus off the cob and chopped it up. Sauteed onions and jalapenos in a wee bit of oil. And in goes the...umm stuff. I sauteed it for about 10 mins, adding a bit of salt.

Unfortunately I only had whole wheat tortillas at home. And cheese choices were asiago and cheddar. So I made one with one, one with the other. It goes tortilla-cheese-sauteed fungus mix-cheese-tortilla. Brown on both sides, quarter, serve.

I made a guacamole to go along with my creation.

And now the taste verdict. I thought it was delicious. It tasted like a very rich and flavorful mushroom. But better. I could have easily devoured another one of these. As for the cheese, I liked the cheddar version at first, but the asiago had a nuttier flavor which went great with the corny-mushroomy flavor.

If you have the means, I highly recommend you picking some up.