Corn Obsession--The elusive ingredient

[Caarina]

For me, the most elusive ingredient in Mexican cooking has to be the most basic-- CORN.

Thankfully, I can get fresh masa at my local mercado and/or tortilleria, but what of fresh corn? tamales de elote? calabacitas? esquites? You really cannot use that ultrasweet US corn!

Last fall, I tried to pick up some field corn from some distant cousins who still farm in the Midwest. They looked at me as if I had two heads. When I asked for huitlacoche (corn smut), they really thought I had lost my marbles. In the midwestern US it is burned because it is a "pest" and can spread quickly) Unfortunately climatic conditions were not ideal for either because of the drought and the harvest was very late for corn, so no deal.

Since then, I have been on the lookout in every single market for field corn. Frozen or fresh. No dice... until... as luck would have it...

I have been reading Maria Baez Kijac's book on South American Cooking. She goes on about the lack of proper corn to make lovely foods like Humitas(fresh corn tamales). That got me thinking to extending my corn search to South American markets.

Then yesterday, I went to my local Latin American market that caters primarily to Argentinian and Peruvians to check out if they had the corn that I ate in Ecuador (the very starchy choclo). The kernels for the choclo I had in Ecuador were irregular and large, about the size of pozole corn. I was in luck, they had some frozen choclo, marketed under the Amazonas brand, in stock.

So... on to experiment. I have to make some calabacitas tonight for dinner. Will report on results tomorrow...

Caarina

[lperry]

Please do report. I've considered growing my own to have "green corn" for cachapas. I'm curious if the choclo will be a good substitute.

-Linda

[fifi]

Oh dear. You have touched on a topic that is close to my heart. I am one of those heretics that hate the US idea of corn. Sweet, insipid cobs of nothingness. Oh, how I miss that toothsome corn cob on a stick from a street vendor in Chapultapec Park in Mexico City. And, the corn that our resident project engineers used to get at the house they rented in Tampico, complete with housekeeper and cook. That woman was amazing and had access to some probably indigenous varieties. The corn tortillas that she purchased were from a family that grew their own corn, made their own masa and hand made the tortillas. They were nothing like the corn tortillas you get here in Houston at most markets.

Many many years ago, my dad and I were on an errand from the country place to Luling, TX. There was a guy selling corn out of the back of his pick-up and we stopped and bought some. My mother teased us about getting hoodwinked into buying "field corn" but we stubbornly boiled it anyway. It was wonderful.

I am going to check at some of our Latino markets to see if they have the variety that you cite.

I get a craving fairly often for "real" corn.

Please translate for a dummy. What is choclo?

[Caarina]

YES! I am so excited I can hardly stand it! It is STARCHY!! And CHEWY! It is exactly right. The only drawback is the larger size kernels, but hey, the flavor is RIGHT.

The choclo cooked up in a few minutes, stewed with tomatoes, garlic, onion and mexican oregano. Dropped in the calabacitas, and seasoned with salt and lots of pepper. Garnished with some cilantro, a work night easy supper with some frijoles de olla.

Now that I've eaten choclo again (It's been 12+years since I last ate it), it is EXACTLY pozole corn in size, but cooked and flash frozen instead of dried. The choclo I bought was frozen, taken off the cob.

I'm not sure about making fresh corn tamales from it. You don't have the fresh husks for the extra flavor, but I can seriously consider finding some regular sweet corn, taking off the sweet stuff and boiling the cobs for broth and then add the choclo for esquites soup.

FYI: Choclo is the Peruvian term for corn. maiz/elote=choclo in Peruvian Spanish.

Here is the information from the label

Amazonas Rainforest Product

Giant Cuzco Corn/Choclo Desgranado/Elote Grano Gigante. Precooked and Frozen.

Imported and Distributed by Amazonas Imports Inc. Phone: 818-982-1377 Fax: 818-982-3898.

Product of Peru

[fifi]

I guess that there are a few members here that know what we are talking about and why we get so excited. Thank you so much for the information on the product. I will go looking. I suspect that if it is to be found anywhere, Fiesta Mart here (Houston area) may have it.

Now if I could just find some of those tortillas like we had in Tampico. :heavy sigh:

[lperry]

Thanks for experimenting on our behalf! I found the choclo at the Grand Mart this afternoon and I can't wait to try it .

[Caarina]

Great let me know how it works for you and if you think it will work in cachapas. I'm thinking about trying the esquites idea this weekend....

[andiesenji]

Reading this thread reminded me of a product that used to be marketed by Herdez. I don't remember the Spanish name on that side of the can but on the side printed in English, it simply said Hominy - Mexican Style. It was unlike any hominy I had ever seen, was yellow instead of white, very large, chewy and still had the skin and germ attached. Tremendous flavor.

I believe that was prior to the time Hormel bought the company. I used to buy the Herdez diced green chiles in the large can. They were spicer than the other brands but not as spicy as jalapeños.

Vallarta supermarkets here in California carry frozen pozole but I haven't noticed the particular product named above. I will look the next time I am in the store.

[Caarina]

The main difference between this product and the canned and frozen hominy found in almost all latin groceries is that Amazona's frozen choclo has never been dried. It was picked fresh, par boiled and then frozen (like the frozen sweet corn you can get in any supermarket.).

[Caarina]

Here are photos of the package of Choclo. Haven't made those esquites yet (went to Baja instead), but I will post afterwards.

[chefsteban]

Here are photos of the package of Choclo.  Haven't made those esquites yet (went to Baja instead), but I will post afterwards.

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Caarina,

PLEASE tell a fellow san diegan where this market is located......I found something simular one time at the tiny market beside Andres Restaurant on Morena Blvd.

[Caarina]

I bought this at this the Andres Market on Morena. If they don't have it in stock, they may be able to special order it for you.

Caarina

[lperry]

Sorry for taking so long to post-

The choclo I bought was Peru Foods brand and was still on the cob. I thawed it, broke the kernels off the cob with my fingers, and attempted to make cachapas. It was not very tender so I had to add quite a bit of milk to get the consistency right. Then it didn't thicken really well (this issue may have been a result of my impatience ), so I added in a couple of tablespoons of corn flour. I cooked them up and stacked two with Oaxaca cheese in the middle (closest I could find to queso mano). Mmmmmm. The rest is in the fridge for later cooking - it may just take longer to thicken.

So they worked with some tweaking, the flavor was close, the color was off (should have been yellower), but a very nice meal nonetheless.

-Linda

[Panosmex]

We visited the 2º Feria de Maíz Criollo, a small event here in Pátzcuaro, México, dedicated to sustainable agriculture and the preservation of traditional varieties of corn.

Unfortuantely, from a foodie point of view, some of the tamales and corundas were not exemplary. The blue corn quesadillas, though, were excellent.

See my photos here.

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Buen Provecho,

Panosmex