The smut that's SFW
August 3, 2005 6:14 PM   Subscribe

One man's crop blight is another man's delight. Also called corn smut, Ustilago maydis is a fungus that infects corn plants and is typically destroyed in the US. However, in some parts of the world, Cuitlacoche or huitlacoche is considered a fine delicacy. For over 100 years it has been used in science as a model for pathogenic development, but it is only recently that it has been deliberately cultivated for food in the US. Are you brave enough to eat it? Here are some recipes for you to try.
posted by hindmost (32 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Weren't we talking about smut earlier?
posted by clevershark at 6:21 PM on August 3, 2005


I've had it. It's yummy, if weird.
posted by mudpuppie at 6:22 PM on August 3, 2005


People must have been going through desperate times to have discovered that this stuff is edible.
posted by leapingsheep at 6:36 PM on August 3, 2005


Ha! I just read the "sneaze" article about it the other day. GROSS!!! Is all I have to say about it.
posted by snsranch at 6:40 PM on August 3, 2005


Huitlacoche is absolutely delicious.
posted by 김치 at 6:42 PM on August 3, 2005


I thought we were going to be discussing corn porn.

cr0n pr0n?
posted by wakko at 6:46 PM on August 3, 2005


what does it taste like? mushroom?
posted by amberglow at 6:54 PM on August 3, 2005


When someone named "Kimchee" endorses a product's taste, I'm both wary and extremely curious.
posted by interrobang at 6:58 PM on August 3, 2005


When de-tasseling (that good ole summer job us farm kids did for money) we hated coming upon this stuff. It smells like ass and leaves this greasy black residue all over you that you cannot wipe off - only spread. Nasty stuff.

But I can't say I ever tasted it.
posted by jmgorman at 7:05 PM on August 3, 2005


Aztecs are said to have prized cuitlacoche (in Nahuatl cuitlatl means "excrement," cochi means "black"). Sounds delish!

"Honey, what's for dinner tonight?"
"Black shit!"
"Great!"
posted by zardoz at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2005


Cuitlacoche Ice Cream
6 oz. Cuitlacoche, the Maize Mushroom ...

And that's where I stopped reading.
posted by yhbc at 7:42 PM on August 3, 2005


I'm no big fan of mushrooms, unless they're the kind that makes you laugh and stare at the sky for hours on end.
posted by clevershark at 7:53 PM on August 3, 2005


It tastes like sugary mushrooms... not bad.
posted by fet at 8:24 PM on August 3, 2005


One summer while I was still in high school, I was working on a farm picking corn (and other vegetables) and the foreman came around and told us to watch out for corn smut. Turns out some lady from the city stopped by the produce stand and was picking out some sweet corn when she suddenly gives a shriek, throws the corn down and runs for her car. As she was leaving with a spray of gravel, the cashier went over and noticed that amoungst the corn was a particularly nasty looking smut infested ear.
(Is this a double post, because I swear I've told this story here before)
posted by 445supermag at 8:25 PM on August 3, 2005


"Mexican truffle" sounds so much better than "corn smut" or "maize fungus".
posted by Moral Animal at 8:36 PM on August 3, 2005


boingboinged earlier this year...
posted by shoepal at 8:38 PM on August 3, 2005


It's rotting zombie corn. Swelled up and black with fungus.
posted by blasdelf at 8:39 PM on August 3, 2005


It's great to sautee and use in tacos.
posted by rocketman at 8:46 PM on August 3, 2005


Put 'em together and it smells like corn that forgot to wipe.

Now this is truly the best of the web! Great post, hindmost.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:55 PM on August 3, 2005


Well, when you consider what they use to grow your good old Agaricus button mushroom, I don't see a problem with a parasitic fungus of corn.

So I suppose it depends, would you rather eat something that looks nice and pretty but grows on shit, or smething that looks like shit and grows on something nice and pretty?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:01 PM on August 3, 2005


I'll betcha the Aztecs didn't really eat it. They were pulling a prank on the invaders. "Hey, let's see if we can get them to eat this black shit!"
posted by five fresh fish at 9:32 PM on August 3, 2005


Pick your treat: corn smut or a three weeks old durian.

Nice post, now I want to try it as I like fungus (and durian.)
posted by NewBornHippy at 11:08 PM on August 3, 2005



Is it as yummy as that rye crop blight, ergot?
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:35 PM on August 3, 2005


They say the first man to eat an oyster must have been very hungry...same for cuitlacoche.
posted by wsg at 1:23 AM on August 4, 2005


Y'know, I run a South-east Asian restaurant, but damn I can't stomach durian. It makes me want to puke it out immediately. I guess it's one of those "acquired tastes". There's an equal number of people who absolutely adore it.

It smells so bad it's not allowed in most public places like hotels, trains, lifts, etc. in the far east.
posted by madman at 1:57 AM on August 4, 2005


I've had it. It's yummy, if weird.

I agree. I wouldn't say it tastes like mushroom, but then I don't know what it does taste like. Try it and see. Just don't think of it as "smut" or "black shit" or you may have a hard time appreciating it. It's huitlacoche. (Used to be you could only find it at tiny places where the other customers were actual Mexicans; don't know what things are like now.)
posted by languagehat at 5:40 AM on August 4, 2005


Durian season in Kuala Lumpur is like living in an open sewer, but then you get to eat it and all that goes away.

I'd love to try this stuff. I'm gonna have to find some. (The Sneeze article was pretty funny.)
posted by OmieWise at 5:40 AM on August 4, 2005


I'm a fungus fan, so I'll keep an eye out for cuitlacoche. Is it expensive?

As for durian -- a friend of mine bought one in New York and brought it up to Providence -- I'm sure the people on the bus loved him for that. He opened it up in an eight-story building and all day long people wandered around looking for the source of the smell. Such a powerful fruit deserves a post of its own.
posted by Marit at 8:06 AM on August 4, 2005


Oh. Hell. No.
posted by insulglass at 9:13 AM on August 4, 2005


You can sometimes find it in cans in Mexican specialty stores here in the U.S.

Good huitlacoche, to me, is highly marked by that succulent umami sensation that East Asians prize.
posted by mkultra at 12:53 PM on August 4, 2005


I have some huitlacoche soup sitting in a can in my pantry. I bought it about three weeks ago, because I like trying new foods (and it was on sale). I haven't yet gotten brave enough to open the can and try it, and this post isn't helping. It just looks so gross. :D

Of course, I once thought escargot and oysters looked gross too, and now I enjoy both of them. Guess I'll have to work up the courage to open that can one of these days.
posted by Orb at 2:28 PM on August 4, 2005


"Guess I'll have to work up the courage to open that can one of these days."

If you waited too long, and it went bad, would you even know?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:27 AM on August 5, 2005


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