Don't Be So Corny

You can’t drive anywhere in Mexico without being greeted by their dependency on corn. It’s a part of the culture and the food in so many ways. Where other countries make and consume bread, Mexicans eat tortillas which are usually made out of corn. Mexicans break off pieces of the hot thin corncakes and use them to mop up whatever food is left on their plate. Or they use the tortillas to make tacos out of whatever is for breakfast, lunch or dinner. To not have tortillas at a meal is a sin.

Corn is a fantastic vegetable. I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who hated corn. It’s warm and sweet and welcoming like many Mexicans. I’ve had my share of tortillas and although I like them, I prefer flour tortillas ( I commit a crime every time I ask for them, I know). But tortillas aren’t the only place to taste corn.

Corn is dried and ground up to make masa, which is used to make tortillas. Masa is also used to make tamales. Tamales are usually the masa with some local produce or meat that is wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. It’s so luscious and flavorful no matter what the interior combination is. I do love tamales with cheese or huitlacoche ( a corn fungus – I told you they love their corn) or salsa verde. But let me go back to the corn for a moment.

Corn in Mexico is different than corn found in the USA. It’s not as sweet. The kernels are much bigger and have more of a gritty taste to them. They sometimes use the kernels to make pozole, which is another fabulous concoction with corn. But honestly the best way to have corn in Mexico is two ways:

1) On the cob – called elote
2) Or in a soup – called esquite

You find street vendors all over Mexico selling boiled corn on a cob. You can garnish this cob with any number of things. Sometimes nothing more than butter. Other times, you use mayonnaise. Some people put chili pepper and lime juice on the corn while others coat it in cheese. It’s quite a rich meal no matter how you prepare it. I had always heard about elote from my husband but I never tasted it until this visit. I had mine with mayonnaise that had a touch of lime juice and some chile pepper. I felt like I was eating the most fantastic 5 star appetizer in my life. The heat off the chili was accompanied by the cooling component of the mayonnaise. Yummy doesn’t even come close to describing the happiness is my mouth and my tummy while I was consuming it.

The second dish – esquite - is just as fabulous. It’s nothing more than boiling corn in some water and using some fresh herbs to bring out the inherent complexity of this Mexican corn. Of course like more dishes in Mexico people adorn the soup with lime juice, chili, tortilla chips. I like mine with a little lime. It is as comforting as a hot bowl of chicken soup on a cold day. This is all Mexican comfort food and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you try it.