By Pamela Walker, writer and local farm and food activist (www.GrowingGoodThingsToEat.com)
The wonders of a great farmers’ market never cease. Last Saturday, Mountain Flower Farm brought ears of corn with the beautiful corn fungus, huitlacoche, growing on them. I’ve enjoyed cooking and eating it previously in classes in Oaxaca. What a delightful surprise to find it here.
I bought some, and also bought fresh corn tortillas, roasted chiles poblanos, onions, and garlic at the Market, and made a lunch based on this recipe of Diana Kennedy’s from The Cuisines of Mexico. I ate my quesadillas with curds of goat cheese, but other types of white cheese would be good, too.
Diana Kennedy’s Huitlacoche para Quesadillas, aka Corn fungus filling for quesadillas
Ingredients:
- About 1 lb huitlacoche
- 3 – 4 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
- 1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 small chiles poblanos, roasted, peeled, and cut into strips, or 2 canned, peeled green chiles
- 1 large sprig epazote
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Preparation:
- Cut the fungus from the corn cobs and chop it roughly. Set aside.
- Heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic, without browning, until they are soft.
- Add the chili strips, huitlacoche, epazote, and salt and cook over a medium flame until the mixture is soft and the liquid from the fungus has evaporated–about 15 minutes.
