Gardeners: Smut Question

[haldir]

Okay Mods, you can move it, this isn't that kind of smut.

I saw a show on TV awhile back where they were cooking and eating corn smut. I think it was down in Mexico. Any of you ever heard of this or tried it? It looks and sounds nasty to me. For some odd reason I didn't have any at all this year or I might have thought about... no, never mind I wouldn't have. Appreciate any comments.

[csaws]

Have heard of it being done and you are right it is a delicacy in Mexico. Have never tried it and it would be a cold SHTF day before I will.

[Pamcake]

I vaguely remember something about that too.
I have no smut so far in any of the varieties of corn this year (3 hybrids, 5 heirloom).
Here is what wikipedia mentions about the subject:

"The fungus has had difficulty entering into the American and European diets as most farmers see it as blight, despite attempts by government and high profile chefs. In the mid-1990s, due to demand created by high-end restaurants, Pennsylvania and Florida farms were allowed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to intentionally infect corn with huitlacoche. Most observers consider the program to have had little impact[citation needed], although the initiative is still in progress. Regardless, the cursory show of interest is significant because the USDA has spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to eradicate huitlacoche in the United States. Moreover, in 1989 the James Beard Foundation held a high-profile huitlacoche dinner. This dinner famously tried to get Americans to eat more of it by renaming it the Mexican truffle."

[Indy_Guy_77]

Ever wonder who the first person to eat that crap was?

"Hey, Diego, I dare you to eat this stuff growing on the corn."

"You mean the stuff that looks like the old tar-ey, slimey, bloated remains of a chupacabra that's been laying in the hot Mexican sun for 3 months?"

"Yeah, that's the stuff."

"Ok man, but if I die, tell Lupita I love her."

[4sarge]

Availability

Huitlacoche (Corn Smut) can be purchased as a canned good in some markets and via the internet. Some farmers markets and organic growers are endeavoring to bring fresh huitlacoche to their customers and local food service trade. In Mexico it is mostly consumed fresh and can be purchased at restaurants, street or farmer's markets throughout the country.

Native Americans of the American Southwest, including the Zuni tribe, have used corn smut to induce labor. It has similar medicinal effects to ergot, but weaker, due to the presence of the chemical ustilagine.[4]

[shooter521]

Yeah, I'd wanna eat that... NOT!


For an incredibly funny (but NSFW) account of one man's experience with this stuff, check out:
The Sneeze. The article in question is about halfway down the page, but the other "experiments" are hilarious and worth reading, too.

[El Cazador]

Originally Posted by shooter521

Yeah, I'd wanna eat that... NOT!


For an incredibly funny (but NSFW) account of one man's experience with this stuff, check out:
The Sneeze. The article in question is about halfway down the page, but the other "experiments" are hilarious and worth reading, too.

That's pretty awful looking...like caviar with mixed eyeballs

How's come the smut on my sweetcorn is more like a styrofoam? Fairly rigid, with a whitish top, and when broken open has a cellular look like cured insulating foam? I'd burn the corn rows if it had something on it that looked like that in the picture.

By the way, I thought this might be a Girls with Gardens thread. The potential for trouble was too good to not peek in and see.

[waloidian]

Originally Posted by shooter521

Yeah, I'd wanna eat that... NOT!


For an incredibly funny (but NSFW) account of one man's experience with this stuff, check out:
The Sneeze. The article in question is about halfway down the page, but the other "experiments" are hilarious and worth reading, too.

thanks for the link, just spent the last 30 minutes reading, funny stuff