Corn smut doesn't sound
like anything I would willingly put in my mouth, much less learn
how to cook.
Huitlacoche -- or cuitlacoche, both forms are used -- was
something I read about in cookbooks as I became interested in
Mexican cuisine, but I couldn't conjure up an imagined taste
or even picture what it might look like. Finding out that the
suspected etymology derives from the nahuatl words "huitlatl,"
meaning excrement or excrescence, and "cochtli" or "cochin,"
of uncertain meaning, but possibly related to the verb "coch,"
meaning sleep, did not help develop my mental picture.
In the Cuisines
of Mexico, Diana Kennedy writes "Huitlacoche is the fungus
that forms on the ears of corn (Ustilago maydis) and
produces big, swollen, deformed kernels, black inside and covered
with a silvery-gray skin. As the fungus cooks it exudes a black
juice. It is perfectly delicious, with an inky, mushroomy flavor
that is almost impossible to describe." My opportunity to try
it didn't come until several years later, on my first visit
to Mexico City. At the market in Coyoacan I watched a vendor
pat out a corn tortilla, smear what looked like black pudding
across it, fold it in half, and drop it into hot oil. Minutes
later I enjoyed my first quesadilla de huitlacoche. And I can
tell you that Diana Kennedy is right: the flavor is almost impossible
to describe, earthy and seductive.
Until last summer, I had no idea what the fresh product looked
like. But while I was happily searching out mushrooms at one
market stall, Ron was searching for huitlacoche at another.
I expected something--for lack of a more appropriate culinary
term--squishy, and maybe even a little slimy. But the huitlacoche
we bought looked like swollen, pale grey kernels on otherwise
fine ears of corn. The texture of the kernels was smooth and
dry; when I scraped them off the cob, they felt somewhat spongy.
During the cooking process, the huilacotche turns a deep, rich
black and becomes a puree.
Huitlacoche cannot be cultivated. In Mexico it is available
both on the cob and as scraped kernels, not unlike hominy. If
you grow corn, or know someone who does, you might keep an eye
out for its spontaneous appearance. I have not seen it in an
unprocessed state outside of markets in Mexico, but have very
occasionally found canned huitlacoche--Herdez is the brand I
have seen--on the shelf at the grocery store.
Along with huitlacoche and wild mushrooms (called in general
"setas" as opposed to champinones or hongos), rainy season markets
also abound with bunches of fresh squash blossoms. Like huitlacoche,
the squash blossoms often become a delicious filling for quesadillas
(which in Mexico do not necessarily contain cheese), or the
base for soup. But I remembered the stuffed, fried squash blossoms
prepared by an Italian friend of my parents. When I asked in
the market, no one had heard of any similar Mexican preparation.
It seemed to me that the flavors of the huitlacoche and the
squash blossoms would complement each other, so I experimented
a bit and came up with flores de calabaza rellenos de arroz
negro--squash blossoms stuffed with black rice. I have occasionally
seen bunches of squash blossoms at farmer's markets. You could
also harvest your own, which will cut down on the ever-prolific
zucchini later in the season.
For the Arroz Negro:
-
1 cup of rice
-
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
-
1/2 can huitlacoche (or the kernels of 2 ears of affected
corn)
-
1 small onion, diced
-
3 or 4 garlic cloves, minced
-
olive oil
Rinse the rice and drain. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in
a saucepan over a low flame; add the onion, garlic, and rice
and gently sautee until the rice is golden. If you are using
fresh huitlacoche, in a separate pan heat another tablespoonful
of olive oil. Add the huitlacoche and sautee until the liquid
released by the fungus evaporates. In the pitcher of a blender,
combine the prepared huitlacoche, or the canned, with the stock.
Blend until well mixed. Pour the liquid into the rice and cook
over low flame until the liquid is absorbed.
For the squash blossoms:
Cut the stems off of the blossoms just below the calyx. Remove
the stringy green sepals. Rinse the blossoms gently and let
dry somewhat. Hold the blossoms open with one hand and carefully
fill with a tablespoonsful or so of the arroz negro. Leave some
room at the edge of the blossoms; with wet fingers, gently press
the petals together. In a skillet, heat 3 or 4 tablespoonsful
of olive oil. Gently place as many of the prepared blossoms
as will fit across the bottom of the skillet. Fry for 2 or 3
minutes, then turn and fry the other side. Drain on paper towels.
Serve warm.
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