THE FUNGUS AMONG US

 

My Dad was not a cursing man but when he walked the cornfields and saw corn smut it would bring out his choice words. Now, people eat the stuff.

Yep, I am talking about the gnarly, grey-black corn fungus that grows on stalks of corn. It’s correct name is huitlacoche, pronounced Weet-La-Ko-Chee, and it is considered a delicacy in Mexico and is finding its way into up-scale restaurants right here in the United States. It is normally referred to as “corn truffles,” “corn smut,” “corn fungus,” or “devil’s corn.”

It is actually an infection that United States farmers and crop scientists have spent years trying to eradicate. Corn growers, along with the federal government, have spent millions of dollars and years’ worth of time trying to develop smut-resistant strains of corn. They have only been partially successful.

It is a fast-moving blight that can wipe out five to ten percent of a crop. The black, dusty spores from it can gum up farm machinery. Corn kernels become infected with it when the corn is in the silk stage. The kernels swell to golf-ball size and become discolored. For those that want, they can be harvested two to three weeks after infection.

The irony is that, as much as it is a scourge to farmers, it can sell for more than the corn it ruins. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin convinced a group of farmers to deliberately infect their fields with this fungus in 2007 as an experiment and then harvest it. The result was that one ear of huitlachoche cost 41 cents to produce and sold for $1.20 whereas an ear of sweet corn cost ten cents to produce and sold for a few cents per ear. Chefs today pay $20 or more per pound for this delicacy.

The Aztecs in Mexico intentionally infected their corn crop by scratching the base of the corn stalk with a soil-smeared knife. Here in the Midwest, hail damages the stalks of corn and the scratches lets the spores in. This fungus can live up to three years in the soil. There has been a dedicated corn smut underground in the United States for decades in our country.

 

So, what is the attraction to eating something so gross looking? It sure must taste better than it looks!

 

It is mainly served in gourmet restaurants and those who like it describe its taste as “both nutty and earthy with a hint of fruity sweetness.” According to the Food Chemistry Journal, it is packed with unique protein, minerals and other nutrients.

One of those nutrients is Lysine, one of the essential amino acids that the body requires but cannot manufacture. We need it to fight infections and strengthen bones. Regular corn has basically none but corn smut is loaded with it. Huitlacoche is also loaded with beta-glucans, the soluable fiber that gives oatmeal its cholesterol cutting power.

Technically, it is a vegetable rather than a fungus. Although usually eaten raw, it can be canned and frozen. Heat turns it dark. It is often used like mushrooms in sauces and sautéed for its earthy flavor. It can be pureed with cream as a sauce for steak or it can be made into a flan for dessert.

In Mexico they make thick corn patties filled with chopped huitlachoche, onions and corn kernels. Also, huitlacoche-stuffed chicken breasts and quesadillas are popular.

If you are so inclined to get in on this profitable market, the perfect conditions to grow huitlacoche are a wet spring followed by a dry summer and then more moisture. A soil high in nitrogen also encourages its growth.

As for me, I am usually game to try new things, but count me out on this one. The “fungus among us” is not up my alley.

 

  

 

 

CORN TRUFFLE QUESADILLAS

 

2 tablespoons butter

½ onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

5 leaf (blanks) fresh epazote leaves

1 pound huitlacoche

Pinch of sea salt

10 (six inch) yellow corn tortillas

1 pound Oaxaca cheese, separated into strings

 

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat; stir in onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and epazote and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir corn truffles into onion mixture; cook and stir until truffle liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and keep warm.

Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium heat until hot. Moisten both sides of two tortillas with water and place them, stacked together, onto the hot griddle; cook until the bottom tortilla is crisp, about 2 minutes. Flip the stacked tortillas and cook the other tortilla until crisp, about 2 minutes. Separate the two tortillas; place them separately, uncooked side down, onto the hot griddle. Cover the crisp side of one tortilla with 1/5 of the Oaxaca cheese; place 1/5 of the corn truffle mixture over the cheese, then lay the crisp side of the second tortilla on top to cover the truffle mix.

 

Cook, turning once, until both tortillas are crisp and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes; repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese and corn truffle mixture. Cut each quesadilla into four wedges to serve.

GLORIFIED GOPHER

 

Everyone that has grown up on a farm knows what a gopher is. Yes, it is the little varmint that makes holes all over the yard, but there is also another kind…the kind that goes for this and goes for that. This job is usually reserved for the females or the youngest and, if you happen to be both, you are definitely nominated.

My sister and I knew this all too well growing up, especially during haying season. Dad had a persnickety New Holland baler that liked to act up every season, right in the thick of haying and putting up straw. Of course, it always chose the furthest point from the barn to pull its tricks.

Back then, there were no 4-wheelers, Rangers or other ATV’s that made running from the field to the barn easy. So, instead, while my Dad and brother would try their best to find the current problem, my sister and I were doomed to stand by just in case they needed a tool from the barn…aka, their gopher. If they did, it was no leisurely walk because time was money, it meant putting on our running shoes.

The worst part was waiting. We would stand and wait and maybe once every half hour we could hand them a 9/16 wrench, a pair of pliers or some other tool. The rest of the time it was just stand and wait…and wait…and wait. Do you know how slowly time goes when you are waiting? Such is the life of a gopher.

A gopher also learns fairly quickly not to question, but rather just to do. Once Dad asked for a hammer and I quite proudly answered that he had a hammer. He scooted out from under the baler, glared at me and in no uncertain terms said, “A bigger hammer!” You know, a hammer is a universal tool, it can fix anything…one way or another.

The worst part for us is that, was that after they worked on that temperamental piece of equipment for a couple hours, it usually turned out that it needed a part that was not on hand. So, Mr. Swartz, a guy who lived just north of us and worked on haying equipment would be called. Of course, that meant more waiting. Even then, a gopher is expected to be at hand, just in case there was some tool or part, like a small lock washer that he didn’t happen to have.

I pick on our old baler but, in reality, all of our equipment seemed to take its turn at needing repairs. If we gophers were really lucky, we got to go for parts when they were needed. Dad also worked off the farm so his time was valuable, so my sister and I usually got to go…not that it was a leisurely trip.

We were to go straight to the dealership, get the part and hurry back. Mind you, this was before GPS so I was designated driver since I had my license and my sister was navigator. Dad would always send the old part with us and it was impressed upon us to make sure that the new one was not just like the old one, but EXACTLY like the old one.

The trouble is that the stigma of gopher never seems to go away. Even after we were all on own, we would go back sometimes to help on the family farm. The same roles were still there. One particular year it had been an especially long summer, extra hot, and by the time we had gotten through second cutting of hay and were finishing up oat straw, we were all a little on edge.

We were tired, we were itchy and we were grouchy. My brother was fixing the hay trolley in the mow and I was the gopher this time. He was making the demands and it wasn’t quite like taking orders from Dad. I had had enough and threw a bale of straw at him, he threw one back, then my sister threw one at both of us. Our folks stood by and let us go until there was a live snake in a bale and my brother “rescued” us. That ended it. Dad calmly asked, “Got it out of your system?” Yep, I went for whatever my brother had originally asked for.

Now, years later, I find that things still haven’t changed too much. I enjoy hanging around the barn and helping Ron, most of the time. In the beginning, he wasn’t too sure. He’d ask for the channel locks. As I was off to the workbench, he would add, “It’s the tool with the blue handles that is laying on the right side under the hammer, the tool with the black rubber handle…”

Excuse me, I didn’t put all those years in as a gopher not to learn some things. I know what channel locks are!

Slowly, he accepted that maybe, just maybe I had paid my dues as a gopher and had learned a thing or two. Gopher duties were expanding. Now, I got to help him back the equipment in the barn. This isn’t my Dad’s equipment. They didn’t have 1000-bushel grain carts back then or large combines that barely fit through the barn door.

After a couple years of “I can’t hear you!,” “I can’t see you,” and “How far do I have before I hit?” and my scrambling from looking to see and running back to the cab to tell him, we now have moved up to walkie talkies. The life of a gopher is moving on up.

However, last week was the ultimate test and I believe that I have been moved up to “glorified gopher.” Ron needed to replace the knives on his corn head. Since Dad only had a two-row combine and not an International 1660, this was new to me. I didn’t realize how much of a tedious job it was.

He literally had to wheel himself up under the head and unbolt all the knives and then put the new ones on. To do this, he needed the rolls moved. To save him from having to get up and go around to the shaft, turn it, go back and do this over and over, it was my job to stand by the shaft and move it whichever direction he needed when he needed it.

This in itself was not a bad job, but rather it was the waiting and then moving it a teeny bit and waiting some more. I had forgotten how awful it had been just waiting all those years ago out in the hay field when persnickety baler broke down.

It took two long days to complete the task. My onlyexcitement the first day was watching the course that the water draining from the air conditioning unit was taking on its way to the floor drain! It was just a tad bit better than watching paint dry!

The second day I got a little creative. With my fingernail, I started a “drawing” by scratching a scene out in the dust on the combine. By the end of the day, I had a whole forest scene, complete with pine trees, mountains, a river and a cabin.

I never thought much of doing these menial tasks before but maybe it took this for me to realize that no matter how small of task, every second saved and every step saved counts for something. Ron told me how long it took him to change these knives before when he was alone. I can’t even imagine getting up and down from under the machine all those times and how much time it would have taken.

I now have a new respect for being a gopher. No matter how small, every little bit of help is important. I have moved from gopher to glorified gopher and am proud of it!

GOOFY GOURDS

 

We gardeners grow vegetables to eat fresh, to preserve for winter and pretty much to consume the fruits of our labor. However, once in a while we like to grow something just for fun.

This is where gourds fit the bill. They are fun, goofy and make great craft projects. I never thought about giving these a try until my friend Susie gave me a gourd plant she had started. Yep, you read that right, one gourd plant. I planted it along the chain link fence and, holy cow, by midsummer it has twined and vined all through the fence and goofy-looking whimsical gourds are hanging haphazardly on the fence. There are nine gourds, all from just one plant…how fun!

Members of the Cucurbit family which also includes cucumbers, melons and squash, gourds are one of the oldest cultivated plants used for decorative objects. These include storage containers and utensils, cups, bottles, vases, scoops, ladles, fishnet floats, whistles, rattles and many other crafts. However, the most popular use for them is for birdhouses.

Some more unusual uses include adding shells and pieces of metal to dried gourds to create musical instruments. Gourd material can be wood-burned, carved, painted or stained. Smaller pieces are made into jewelry. The fibers can even be pounded out and turned into handmade paper sheets.

There are about 700 different varieties of gourds. These different species of vines all have coiled, climbing tendrils that bear some of the most unusual fruits in the world. Botanically, they are classified as fruits because they contain the seeds like melons or grapes. When talking about them in culinary terms, they are thought of as vegetables since they are often prepared as such.

A few varieties are edible when their fruit is very young. A bottle gourd is a hard-shell gourd whose flesh is edible. Often green, it resembles a flat cucumber or eggplant. Longer and thinner versions of the bottle gourd is called the cucuzzi or “Italian edible” gourd. It has a mild, zucchini-like flavor.

Consuming gourds should be done with caution though, especially if you are not sure exactly what you have. Native Americans and some Mexican tribes have been using the stinking gourd for at least 9000 years as some food stuffs, medicine, cosmetics, detergents and insecticides. However, it is poisonous to humans if ingested.

Although gourds are grown in all the states, Michigan, New York and California produce the most. A staple fixture of autumn as centerpieces and other decorations, they are relatively easy to grow. They like full sun and rich drained soil that has been fertilized with rich organic matter. Most varieties require around 100 days of growing season and are ready to be harvested in mid-October.

There are three main varieties grown in Midwest gardens. These include:

*Cucurbita which has orange blossoms open during the day and multicolored fruit. These are ideal for growing on fences and trellises. Harvest fruit before frost and store in a dark, dry space. Drying usually takes about a week.

*Legenaria has white blossoms that open at night with green colored fruit that have thick, hard shells when dried. These are generally used for crafts and surface mold is common.

*Luffa species have yellow flowers that are open during the day. They produce zucchini-like fruits that have softer outer shells and tough, fibrous interiors. Harvest them when they are lightweight and the seeds rattle.

They are best grown where they can climb fences, trellises and arbors and their fruits hang rather than lay on the ground. This helps to develop straight necks and avoid rot. If some of the fruits are growing on the ground, it helps to put cardboard under them to prevent discoloration.

Gourds come in all shapes and range in size from a couple inches long and weighing only a few ounces to huge ones. The largest to date was a bushel gourd harvested in 2018 in Tennessee and weighed in at 384 pounds.

The biggest complaint with gourds is that they rot. The secret to preventing rot is in the harvest. Waiting until they are mature is the key. When the vines begin to turn brown where they meet the ground, it is time to harvest by cutting the vine two to three inches from the fruit.

Gourds aren’t as tough as they look. Mature ones with hard shells can withstand a light frost but a hard freeze will turn them to mush. They bruise easily and, once bruised, the bruises soften and rot.

After harvesting them, wash with soapy water, hand dry and then wipe with rubbing alcohol.  Place them outside away from direct sunlight in a well-ventilated area for about a week. They can be placed in burlap bags and hung outside on sunny days and brought in at night. When using this drying method, don’t forget to turn them to prevent “gourd bed sores.”

After the outside is dry, they need to be “cured” for about six months by moving them to a dry, dark area. Store them on screens or other vented surfaces in a single layer and making sure they are not touching. They may also be hung with twine or wire. If not hung, be sure and turn them every couple of weeks to ensure even drying and to prevent spoiling. Check every few days, discarding any that show signs of rot. They are ready to use when they feel lightweight and hard to the touch and you can hear seeds rattle inside.

Gourds can be dried indoors as well. However, they usually develop mold when dried in this manner and, even after the mold is scraped off, mold patterns are visible on the skin. Some crafters like this look. Those that are dried outdoors are much cleaner than those brought inside. When it comes to gourds, sunlight and patience are the keys to good drying.

For those that develop mold, soak in a mild solution of bleach water for about 20 minutes, turning so that all sides are coated. Then use a scraper, rough sponge or rags to get all the skin off and rinse before drying.

For birdhouses, drill a hole at least 1 3/8 in diameter and allow bleach water to get inside. Then, scrape out any seeds and debris that you can. Drill a small hole on either side of the neck to run a wire through for hanging and three or four small holes in the bottom for drainage.

Note, if the gourd is not intended for use as a birdhouse, it is not recommended to drill a hole in it for drainage. This only invites rot and disease.

After gourds are dried, they can be finished in a number of ways. Clear polyurethane can be sprayed on as a protectant. Stains are good finishers and also lets the grain show through. Of course, they can also be painted and you can get as artistic as you want with this medium, painting all sortsof scenes on them.

Once dried, gourds’ outer shell is similar to wood that can be smoothed, finished and will last a long time. For something a little out of the ordinary, they are fun to grow and make great craft pieces. For a little twist, I love my “goofy” gourds!