Corn

Corn has many uses and is probably the most integral food source in our society. Corn is so versatile we consume less than 1 percent of all the corn grown. This includes fresh, frozen, canned and even cornmeal. The rest makes up an over $20 billion business creating fuel for our automobiles, oil for cooking, syrup from soft drinks, and is a staple in pet food and talcum powder.

Corn is important today, but it was even more important to the Indians whom inhabited the Americas before Columbus. Corn was more than just food to the Indians; corn was sacred. The maize god was at the center of the pantheon of Mayan deities, the god-man Quetzalcoatl gave maize to the Aztecs, and the Inca calendar was based on the life cycle of the corn crop.

Today, corn is grown around the world from Beijing to Brazil, Indonesia to India, Florida to California and Mexico.

Storage & Selection
Corn is best stored in a cool environment since warm temperatures will convert the sugar in the corn to starch, so your local supermarket should be displaying corn in refrigerator bins. When selecting individual ears, check the freshness of each one by gently peeling back the husk to examine it, being careful not to beat up the ear for the next consumer. Great quality corn should have full, evenly formed and filled ears, with straight rows of bright, shiny kernels. The husks should be bright green with the silk ends free from decay and obvious worm damage. Refrigerate your corn in the high humidity storage bin as soon as you get home. It is best to refrigerate corn with the husks attached to keep it moist, but if the corn has already been husked, partially or fully, refrigerate it in a perforated plastic bag.

Preparation
The ears of corn should be husked and cleaned before cooking. Remove the silk strands by hand. To remove the silk strands between the kernels, use a dry vegetable brush. Since corn can be eaten raw, obviously the less it is cooked the better. Corn may be boiled, steamed, grilled or microwaved. Corn on the cob is also wonderful grilled on the barbecue. I like to cook the ears directly on the grill husked or not. Husked corn will take about 3 minutes over a medium flame, un-husked about 6-8 minutes. You can brush the corn with melted butter in either case.

Tony's Tip
If you can get very fresh, tender corn from a farmer's market or roadside stand (or if you grow your own), try eating an ear raw, right on the spot!

Tony's Favorite Recipe
Corn off the Cob with Chili Butter

Varieties
Dent corn, also called Field corn, is used to make food, animal feed and industrial products.

Flour corn, also called soft corn, is typically preferred in making tortillas.

Flint corn is often the choice in colder regions of the world because of its hardiness. It is similar to dent and is used for the same purpose.

Popcorn is our favorite theater snack item.

Sweet corn is most likely purchased as "corn on the cob", frozen or canned corn. Kernels containing a high percentage of sugar distinguish it. Sweet corn is generally divided into yellow, white and bi-colored corn. There are numerous hybrids within each category - more than 200 in all. Growers continue to develop sweeter and sweeter varieties of this wonderful vegetable. Yellow corn is the most common, and is the most affordably priced. White corn is less common, although more growers are planting white corn hybrids due to its increased popularity. Bi-colored corn is not 50/50 yellow and white, but actually about 80% yellow kernels, and 20% white.

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