Huitlacoche

[zoramargolis]

PS -- anybody else got any huitlacoche connections?

For a few summers, I was occasionally able to get fresh ears of corn infected with corn smut, from Moie Crawford of New Morning Farm. Alas, there hasn't been any for several years. She no longer has much contact with the workers who pick the corn, so she can't let them know that they shouldn't destroy those ears, if they find them. One of her long-time market helpers still calls me "The Smut Lady."

I think that most of the huitlacoche that is served locally is frozen or canned. I had some fresh at a Mexican restaurant in Santa Monica a few weeks ago, and that place apparently has a source in Mexico that they get it from--Lula's on Main Street in Ocean Park.

The stuff that comes in cans under the Goya label is actually quite good--it hasn't been overly processed prior to getting put in the cans, so when you cook it with onion and chile, it is very close to what you get when you start with fresh huitlacoche. If you have a hankering for it, you can find it at Rodman's.

[Waitman]

Huitlacoche gets a bad rap.

[zoramargolis]

Huitlacoche gets a bad rap.

Sorry, but I'm skeptical. Stomach pains "soon thereafter" suggests that the culprit was probably something he ate at least 6-12 hours earlier. Oyamel is the only place where he could have eaten tacos de huitlacoche, and Joe Raffa is much too meticulous to serve tainted food.

[Anna Blume]

Oyamel is the only place where he could have eaten tacos de huitlacoche, and Joe Raffa is much too meticulous to serve tainted food.

Not necessarily. Doesn't the stuff come frozen or in cans? Besides, the sick comedian says he'd

...stick with the enchiladas and tortillas

when he returns to the same restaurant. Enchiladas at Oyamel?

As for the timing, a number of food boards have addressed this sort of thing and general consensus is that food-related illnesses do, indeed, take time to develop. Phobia? Flu?

[monavano]

"Soon thereafter" is rather nebulus-still could have been the mold. Is there a special way that the corn must be prepped to avoid is making you sick?

[zoramargolis]

Is there a special way that the corn must be prepped to avoid is making you sick?

This question suggests an assumption that huitlacoche will make you sick. As a rule, it isn't eaten raw, but not because it is toxic. It is generally sauteed with onion and chile. Any food can make you sick if it has somehow been contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, or has spoiled.

[monavano]

This question suggests an assumption that huitlacoche will make you sick. As a rule, it isn't eaten raw, but not because it is toxic. It is generally sauteed with onion and chile. Any food can make you sick if it has somehow been contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, or has spoiled.

Actually, although it's mold, I never thought that it could make you sick in and of itself (although one may infer this in the WP article). Of course with improper handling, canning etc, anything can. Nothing too mysterious about it apparently.

[edenman]

Our very own "Smut Lady" in the Atlantic: Click.

[zoramargolis]

Our very own "Smut Lady" in the Atlantic: Click.

I've always been a big fan of smut in it's various forms...

[dcs]

In Mexican cuisine, it’s a delicacy. But in my childhood memory, it’s a monster.  By Jim Webster, August 20, 2018, on washingtonpost.com.

[zgast]

1 hour ago, dcs said:

In Mexican cuisine, it’s a delicacy. But in my childhood memory, it’s a monster.  By Jim Webster, August 20, 2018, on washingtonpost.com.

Love huitlacoche, but really could have done without the photos.  One of those dishes far less appealing in whole form than prepped.