If you came looking for corn smut you've found it. And so did I a few days ago up in my corn patch. What it is and why I ever thought it was a good idea to eat it.
Amsterdam's red light district. The Playboy mansion. The super-deep-down-secret-you're-pretty-sure-you-erased-it hard drive of almost any computer in the world. All places it would be perfect acceptable, expected even, to find various forms of smut.
You do not, on the other hand, expect to encounter smut while in your vegetable garden. I'm just an old woman out picking berries and BAM I'm confronted with smut. Because of my obvious innocence and purity I'm proud to say I didn't even know what it was when I saw it.
But there it was. Something grotesque quite literally bursting out of the top of one of my corn cobs.
Almost instantly I remembered a post I'd seen on Instagram from a local chef. He was all googley eyed over a cob of corn that looked like a gargoyle had barfed it up. People in the comments were chiming in about how jealous they were, how it was Mexican *gold* and he should cook it up immediately.
It was corn smut. Seriously. That's the name of it.
I wasn't quite as excited to see it on my corn but also figured, I like to be in the know, so I pulled off the cob and took it home. Even though it was hideously ugly. Like, seriously disturbing.
Once I got it back home, I stripped the husk off to see exactly what the hell kind of demon had taken over my corn cob..
Even though the "smut" was only on the top of the cob I was no less revolted.
I immediately ran inside and headed to Google looking for some kind of answers. According to the Internet Corn Smut is a fungal infection of the corn that happens randomly and naturally. It's similar to a mushroom suddenly growing. Lovers of smut praise it's indescribable taste, the earthy quality it has and how well it pairs with cheese.
Obviously these people were stretching here ... I mean what doesn't pair well with cheese? A pair of dirty Birkenstocks would pair well with cheese.
Instructions for cooking smut are kind of vague but it seemed like you could just sauté it and add it as a topping to almost anything. Based on some Instagram recommendations and since I had some quesadillas in the freezer, I pulled those out and got ready to make a smutty dinner.
Would you eat this?
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
The kernels of fungus (good luck making that sound appetizing on a high end restaurant menu) plucked off the cob easily.
They were quite black on the inside, similar to the gills of a mushroom. The outside of the fungus was a light grey with varying shades of grey throughout. This smut was around 50 shades of grey.
I sautéed my smut in butter, as one does, and then opened up one of my premade quesadillas and stuck them in. I then reheated everything in the oven and got ready to muster up the courage to eat it.
Before eating the quesadilla I plucked a couple of smuts out of the pan and ate them. They didn't taste like much of anything. Since reading on Google that the taste was "indescribable" I was getting ready to come up with all kinds of wonderful adjectives to describe the tastes. After eating a couple I realized the taste is indescribable because it's hard to describe what nothing tastes like.
I cut my quesadilla into slices and ate it for dinner. I started to feel a bit queasy after the first couple of bites. The smut didn't taste of very much but they have the same texture as ... mushrooms. Which as everyone knows is the same disgusting texture as tongue. Or warts. But mainly my aversion to corn smut was entirely psychological. It's ugly. Ugly enough to convince my stomach it's also poisonous even though it isn't.
I'm not sure what it is that has chefs raving about corn smut. I suspect it's the fact that smut is rare in North America because it only happens spontaneously and we always put more value on things that are rare.
Personally? I'd rather eat a common cob of corn.
But I couldn't live with myself without trying it because I may never encounter corn smut again. This is the same line of logic that me to try barnacles in the 90's and a spiral perm in the 80's.
If you grow corn or buy corn and see these grey globules growing out of it know that what you're witnessing is a rare pheomenon.
A food I do not like.
~ 
So? Would you? Would you eat smut?
I never ever occurred to me to eat corn smut and you were brave to try. I would be hard put to get past the visual of it. We grew sweetcorn on our family farm and typically found smut on various ears; even the cats wouldn't touch it (altho they did eat raw sweetcorn from the cob).
meant photos
spiral perm? potos!
Two points: #1 Karen, are you sure someone didn't eat that smut before you did?
#2 Heather, I (respectfully) don't know where the resemblance to a phallus applies and I am thankful that I just do not see it or I would become celibate!!!
Wow. Wow wow wow. That is the Elephant Man of corn- "I am not an animal, I am a tall, annual, cereal grass!"
And now, for the first time in my life, I am a reader of cornography! Gah!!
I'm pretty adventurous but I don't think I could have eaten that. Thanks for going for it, and sharing the experience! the comments are giving me a good laugh today too!!!
You freeze quesadillas? Why didn't I think of that? Kids lunches for sure. Thanks
All the time. I make a batch, assemble them, then stack them in the freezer between wax paper and pull one out when I want one and cook it. ~ karen!
I saw the picture of your corn smut before reading your blog, and I wondered why and how you got fully engorged ticks to attach to an ear of corn. Even your description sounded like a fat ol' tick, "50 shades of gray" and black on the inside. With that visual in mind, there ain't no fricken way that I would try this, and I am willing to try most anything! You are the bravest person I know!!
Is all corn smut the same? Some mushrooms are poisonous so could some kinds of corn smut also be and how would you tell the difference?
Karen, I ‘m sure there are folks nearby who’d love to buy it from you for tons of money! Instead of a lemonade stand, how about “Karen’s Canadian Huitacoche”?
I’ve eaten it in quesadillas in Mexico City and loved it, and order it whenever I see it on the menu. Getting cravings now...
Would I try this?
No Flippin Way
I've heard of it and knew that chefs go crazy over it, but I don't remember if I ever saw a photo of it before. Ewwwwww, I almost lost my breakfast just looking at your photos! I would not have done what you did. You're a scientist, Karen, that's what you are! A brave scientist doing research for the rest of us. Bless you.
I made an error in my previous post, it’s huitlacoche. Also known as “corn truffles”.
Witches' toes. That's why I loath it. Looks like witches' toes. Had it back in the 80s in my 4x4 corn "field" and it tends to spread with the wind. Sort of like witches...
Actually, I’ve eaten corn smut at a famous restaurant in Mexico City. I had heard of it and wanted to try it. I ordered a crepe filled with the corn smut (huitlacoche is what it’s called in Mexico). It was delicious, it had a nutty, earthy mushroom taste and was tender. The crepe was filled with a cream based corn smut filling, and was simply delicious. There are many different recipes made with the huitlecoche, which I would love to try. I think you really need to know how to cook with it to get the best flavor out of it.
Nope nope nope! Haha, you are far braver than I am--there's no way I would have picked that out of my garden and eaten it.
I'm from New Orleans....we eat almost anything down here. I don't think I would have eaten that!!! :-)
Cheers to you for experimenting.
While I have seen this as an ingredient used on Chopped or similar competitive cooking shows i've never had the pleasure of tasting it. . Did a little research and my best guess is that you should have left it alone for a bit longer to develop more flavor. Finally ,who knew, seems it's really good for you too.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36799184/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/corn-smut-tastes-great-good-you-too/#.W31aoi2-Kds
Well, geez guys above, where’s your sense of adventure??
Actually, I sympathize, having been a kid who was nauseated at the drop of a hat.
Now, though, I’d have done exactly what you did, Karen, and how disappointing to hear that the damn things have NO taste. Weird!
What a fun post, as usual.
Thanks for sharing your unique self!
Mmmmyeah I'm a solid NO on this one