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Home » Vegetables » Corn » Corn Smut

Corn Smut

Corn Smut is a fungus that grows on corn kernels. It causes them to swell into grey, sometimes black, galls up to a few inches (5 to 7.5 cm) wide.

Sweetcorn is more prone to Corn Smut than are cattle corns such as Dent Corn. The Corn Smut has to be harvested while the galls are still moist inside and still whitish-grey or grey, before they become black. The fungus inherits a lot of the sweet taste of the corn that it is feeding on.

When cooked, the fungus turns black and has an earthy flavour. It has been a prized ingredient in Mexican cooking for centuries, and commands premium prices there.

Corn Smut is certainly not pretty to look at, and is heart-breaking to most North American farmers growing corn. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) tried to eradicate it in America.

Around the same time, Mexican restaurants in America, began serving it, calling it “corn truffle.” They had to buy it from Mexico, paying the premium prices. At which point, a collective gasp when up from American farmers: “How much are people getting for this bad corn???” Consequently, the USDA is now trying to figure out ways to actually cultivate and encourage Corn Smut.

In trying to fathom the thought of eating Corn Smut, it might help to remember that truffles are funguses that grow in dirt.

Corn Smut can be bought canned or frozen, or fresh during corn harvest season.

History Notes

Aztecs prized Corn Smut, and would help it to develop by scratching cornstalks near ground level to allow the fungus spores easy entry.

Language Notes

In Mexico, Corn Smut is called “cuitlacoche” or “huitlacoche”. The Mexican name, “cuitlacoche”, comes from the Aztec name for it. In the Nahuatl language, “cuitlatl” means “excrement” and “cochi” means “black”.

Other names

AKA: Corn Truffle, Cuitlacoche
Scientific Name: Ustilago maydis
Spanish: Cuitlacoche, Huitlacoche

This page first published: Feb 28, 2004 · Updated: Oct 4, 2020.

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Tagged With: Mexican Food

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