best corn ever

[katbert]

I was walking by 36th & Walnut and spotted a solo tent of Amish produce- I randomly bought cherries and some corn. And the corn is perfect. No starchiness, no old fiberiness, it pops off the cob with that kind of snap like those big orange roe on sushi. (I can't remember what these are called. Flying fish are the little red ones. I'm too lazy to google image. Sorry.) The right amount of sweetness and flavor and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 50cents/ear, which I think is expensive, but worth every penny this time around. They were packing up to leave when I was there, around 4pm, so I don't know when they're usually there and I couldn't find anything definitive on the Penn website, but yay for the Local Food Thing.

[mrbigjas]

sue's produce had corn yesterday from somewhere or other with a big sign that said 'picked this morning!' so i bought a couple ears for the same prices as you. and it was like you said. killer.

they still had it today but the 'picked this morning' sign was gone so i would expect it to be a little more starchy. probably still pretty darn good though.

[monavano]

OOOOOOOOOoh sounds sooooooo good. 50 cents per ear is too high, I think. But I paid that for a couple ears last week at a local farmer's market. But, it wasn't good. No amish here in D.C. dammit!!!

[Diann]

...those big orange roe on sushi. (I can't remember what these are called. Flying fish are the little red ones. I'm too lazy to google image. Sorry.)

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I think you mean salmon roe. I love that stuff. And the corn sounds great...

[jayt90]

Has anyone come across heirloom corn for sale? It would have to be very fresh, but should have a good balance of flavour, starch, and sweetness.

A lot of the current hybrids sold are too sweet for my taste.

[mrbigjas]

Has anyone come across heirloom corn for sale? It would have to be very fresh, but should have a good balance of flavour, starch, and sweetness.

A lot of the current hybrids sold are too sweet for my taste.

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word. i miss good old silver queen, which it seems hardly anyone is growing anymore, growing that super sweet variety they came out with about five years ago.

and more than that i miss gold old yellow corn.

that butter/sugar stuff they have early in the season each year is about as close as i can find for the most part.

[jayt90]

Has anyone come across heirloom corn for sale? It would have to be very fresh, but should have a good balance of flavour, starch, and sweetness.

A lot of the current hybrids sold are too sweet for my taste.

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i miss good old silver queen, which it seems hardly anyone is growing anymore, growing that super sweet variety they came out with about five years ago.

and more than that i miss gold old yellow corn.

that butter/sugar stuff they have early in the season each year is about as close as i can find for the most part.

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I remember being served large white ears at Stonehenge, Albert Stockli's restaurant in Conn. It was superb. They had multiple deliveries every day, to ensure the best flavour. I never saw these ears again.

There is a variety of yellow corn that was popular for almost 100 years, Golden Bantam. It was not able to be hybridized or 'improved', but it was a real treat if you could get it from back yard to table in 20 minutes!. It tended to get over-ripe, and starchy if left too long, and was soon replaced by the sweeter hybrids. When I retire I'll defintely grow a patch...

[sparrowgrass]

I am not Amish, but I sure did eat some good corn out of my garden last night. I planted 2 varieties--one an early white that I can't remember the name of, and Bodacious.

They are not the super sugary ones, but they are new hybrids.

It is all ripe, right now, and wouldn't ya know it, I am leaving on vacation in the morning.

(edited because I am going on vacation tomorrow, and my brain is already on the bus and halfway there.)

Edited July 15, 2005 by sparrowgrass (log)

[mrbigjas]

There is a variety of yellow corn that was popular for almost 100 years, Golden Bantam.  It was not able to be hybridized or 'improved', but it was a real treat if you could get it from back yard to table in 20 minutes!. It tended to get over-ripe, and starchy if left too long, and was soon replaced by the sweeter hybrids. When I retire I'll defintely grow a patch...

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when you say it was popular for 100 years, about when was it overtaken by sweeter whiter varieties? early 1980s, by any chance? that's about when i remember silver queen becoming pretty much the only thing available. but then again that time frame is when i was 10-12 so that's about the beginning of my remembering anything.

[jayt90]

Yes, your time frame is about right. The early hybrids were from the 60's, but the seed was monopolized by the canners, Green Giant, Birds Eye, Del Monte etc. Even the farmers couldn't save the seeds, because the next-year generation would not grow the same-taste kernels, and because the canner would not deal with them if they stole seed (Monsanto is still playing this game!). At that time Golden Bantam was still the best seed for home growers, and it would grow true to form from year to year because it was not a hybrid.

I think the silver or white varieties came from the southern U.S. in the 70's.

By 1980, seed companies such as Stokes had a variety of sweet, early hybrids, the precursors to Peaches and Cream. These became ever sweeter over the recent years, with a much longer shelf life off the stalk.

I still wish the old varieties were around, to have a gold standard for comparison.

[mrbigjas]

I am not Amish, but I sure did eat some good corn out of my garden last night.  I planted 2 varieties--one an early white that I can't remember the name of, and Bodacious.

They are not the super sugary ones, but they are new hybrids. 

It is all ripe, right now, and wouldn't ya know it, I am leaving on vacation in the morning.

(edited because I am going on vacation tomorrow, and my brain is already on the bus and halfway there.)

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i was about to offer to come over and pick it while you were gone, but SE missouri is kind of a long detour between here and home...