Kathleen wrote:
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>>>>> Heh, I have two in the fridge at this very moment. I must tell
>>>>> you that I cannot remember the last time I had any though. Possibly it
>>>>> was this thread that prompted me to buy them)
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> For corn on the cob to be any good, it must be eaten within 24
>>>> hours of picking.
>>>
>>> Oh dear. Must I throw them away? I have no idea when they were
>>> picked:
>>
>> (
>>
>> No, of course not, unless the kernals have a sunken look to them. If
>> they're still plump, boil on the cob or cut off the cob and cook
>> with a bit of cream. Taste first. If the corn doesn't taste sweet
>> enough, there's nothing wrong with adding a bit of sugar to the
>> cooking water.
>
> Or,
>
> You can chop up some nice sweet vidalia onion, sautee it in some
> butter until tender. Slice the corn kernels off the cob, add to the
> pan. Scrape the cobs over the pan to release the remaining milk. Cook and
> stir until the kernels are tender and the juices have thickened
> slightly. Add a splash of heavy cream, maybe a tablespoon or two. Add a
> dash of chipotle chili powder for a little warmth in the mouth. Taste for
> salt. If it's not quite as sweet as fresh creamed corn
> should be, cheat by adding a tiny bit of white sugar, but between the
> sweet onions and the corn itself you shouldn't have to.
>
> I ate some corn on the cob down in Mexico that, objectively, should
> have been just plain unacceptable. It was big and old and tough -
> well on its way to being horse corn. But we were starving and the smell
> of it
> grilling in the husk over a wood fire lured us in. When the vendor
> asked us how we wanted it, I shrugged and replied, "Tenemos mucho
> hambre. Que es mas bueno?" (Broken spanish works just fine if you
> smile).
> So he got us some ears of corn, stripped back the husks and doctored
> them up with butter, salt, lime juice and chili powder, and oh lord,
> it was coarse and tough and chewy and tasted like heaven. Hunger is
> the best seasoning.
>
> When we finished our corn he pointed to a pile of green coconuts and
> waggled his eyebrows inquiringly. Being sunburned and dehydrated and
> skeert to drink the water (we'd been making due with Coke and beer),
> we nodded emphatically and he whacked the tops off of some so we could
> drink the sweet juice, then chopped them open and cut out the meat for
> us to eat. Again, sheer heaven.
>
> Of course, if I went out to lunch tomorrow and somebody served me up
> something like that I'd be fairly annoyed. But we was young and we
> was po ("po" is what you are when you can't even afford the extra "o"
> and the "r") and we were on an adventure and we filled our bellies for a
> couple of bucks.
>
> When I'm feeling nostalgic I'll grill sweet corn and serve it up with
> butter and salt and chili and lime, and it's better than what we had
> but still not nearly as good.

Wonderful story Kathleen Thank you for sharing