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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Huitlacoche Elotes

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Huitlacoche / corn mushroom / corn truffle elotes recipe

Elotes smeared with pureed corn smut, cheese and hot chili are a mushroom hunter’s riff on the classic. 

Huitlacoche elotes, or corn brushed with black mushroom puree with cheese and hot chili is my heartfelt, smutty love letter to Mexican street food and mushrooms. 

Sweet corn season is in full swing here in the Midwest: stands filled with green spears of golden kernels dot the roadsides, parking lots of neighborhood watering holes, private drives, and just about anywhere you can fit a corn stand. 

Mushroom hunters know that with corn season comes another offering: Aztec black gold. Now is the time to look for corn truffles, a.k.a corn mushrooms, corn smut, or huitlacoche, the latter being my favorite descriptor, as well as the traditional name derived from Nahuatl: the language of the Aztecs, whose cultivation, consumption, and enjoyment of the fungus Utsilago maydis dating back millennia is well known. 

Huitlacoche or edible corn smut growing on sweet corn in a farm field

Peekaboo. I see smut. This fruiting brought to you by a hungry whitetail. 

As much as I’d like to dive into the history, intricacies of harvesting the mushroom, especially where and when to do so, I have to save all of that for another post to keep this brief. If you have specific questions though, feel free to comment and I’ll answer them the best I can. I have a few years of harvesting it under my belt now and can probably help you find some or help trouble shoot.

Edible corn smut mushrooms or huitlacoche on an ear of corn

A decent ear, if a bit small. Most of the kernals are good here, but the ones showing black may need a trim.

A few years ago after harvesting my first huitlacoche with my father who farms corn (and who could barely hide his revulsion at my persistent pestering him to bring me to some of his damaged fields) I played around with my haul and knocked a few things off my wish list I’d been meaning to make. The first thing on the list was huitlacoche elotes. 

Huitlacoche or corn smut mushrooms at a good stage for eating

Corn mushrooms in a stage where I would eat them. Dusty, black, powdery, or mushy smut is past prime. Even these aren’t as pristine as I’d like for an example in hindsight (note the discoloration on the two kernels on the top right). The desire to will what we find into edibility is a thing. 

A famous, traditional Mexican street food, elotes are a grilled ear of sweet corn slathered with a thin layer of mayonnaise finished with a dusting of cheese and hot chili. What’s really genius here is the mayo-it acts like a sort of adhesive allowing you to apply different things to the corn. 

Huitlacoche or edible corn smut too old to eat

What most people unfamiliar with corn smut as a food will think of: powdery black corn goiters, or mushy, unappetizing gunk. The kernel pictured is past prime and not for the table.

The traditional elotes I’ve had were all mayo, cheese, and ground hot chili, and they’re delicious. Brushing an ear of grilled sweet corn with a thick, flavored substance is really the takeaway for me though, and I knew a black puree of huitlacoche would be a fun sub for the mayonnaise. Grilled sweetcorn brushed with tasty black mushroom paste, cheese and hot chili? Please and thank you.

Huitlacoche or edible corn smut sauce / puree

Smut sauce.

Quick side note, if corn mushrooms aren’t your thing, thick chili sauce, or just some spicy mayo and a lime wedge are just fine as a substitute. 

Huitlacoche and shaggy manes

If you’re wondering what corn smut puree tastes like, it’s an interesting flavor, and I have a quick tangent/flavor parallel I made sure to jot down after I tasted a few batches. I wrote previously about a puree of deliquesced shaggy mane mushrooms, and, wouldn’t you know it, huitlacoche puree is similar, and the two purees could be substituted one for the other, although shaggy mane puree is more involved. 

black huitlacoche mushroom puree sauce

It’s black. It’s thick. It’s huitlacoche puree. And it’s good.

There’s a sort of twang to both black mushroom purees that reminds me of the metallic taste of saffron, with a touch of bitterness. It’s a special flavor, especially after it’s been cooked with onions, garlic and a pinch of epazote (the herb with an aroma somewhere between garlic and gasoline).

What’s fascinating, to me at least, is that two mushrooms from completely different classes can have such similar flavors. I think there’s more to unpack there re: the taste of mushrooms that turn black, but, I’ll leave that to some curious food scientist. 

Tied husk of corn on an elote with huitlacoche puree

For the most elegant presentation, tie the husk into a knot. Tying the husk takes a little practice, but it’s how I taught my line cooks to serve corn when I would run it as a side in the summer. It looks nice, but it’s optional. 

Part of me just loves the pairing of corn with huitlacoche. Combining the two is a bit like serving squirrels with nuts: what grows together goes together, and all that. Serve them to someone who grows corn (I love you Dad!) for a fun, if slightly  blasphemous appetizer. 

Huitlacoche or corn truffle / corn mushroom elotes recipe

Huitlacoche or corn mushroom elotes recipe
Print Recipe
4 from 1 vote

Huitlacoche Elotes

Grilled sweet corn brushed with huitlacoche puree, garnished with grated cotija cheese and hot pepper makes for a striking take on a classic dish. Makes at least 8 ears of corn
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Huitlacoche, Sweet Corn, Wild mushrooms
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Huitlacoche puree

  • 8 oz fresh huitlacoche *(see note) coarsely chopped
  • 2 oz yellow onion diced ¼ inch
  • 1 small clove garlic minced
  • 1 small jalapeno seeded and diced ¼ inch (add some seeds if you want it extra spicy)
  • pinch dried epazote, or a couple fresh leaves, chopped optional
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin or to taste
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cooking oil can be substituted but isn't as nice
  • Hot water as needed to make a thick puree, a splash

Elotes

  • 8 Ears of fresh sweet corn
  • 5 oz grated cotija cheese
  • Fresh chopped cilantro to garnish, optional
  • Limes wedges for serving
  • Hot chili powder and or hot sauce to garnish, see note

Instructions

Huitlacoche puree

  • Sweat (do not brown) the onion, jalapeno and garlic in the butter on medium-high until translucent a few minutes, then add the huitlacoche, epazote and cumin and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes.
  • Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until as smooth as possible, drizzling in a little water as needed to make a velvety puree (I use a highspeed Vitamix blender here, but I recognize many people don’t have one, if you do, or if you have a similar one like a ninja, do use it for the smoothest, silkiest puree.)
  • If you add too much water and the mixture is loose, it’s no big deal, transfer it to a pan and bake at 325 for 30 minutes or so, whisking occasionally to dry it out, then reserve. Keep the puree warm. The most important part is that the puree is smooth enough to slather on an ear of corn.
  • Transfer the puree to a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. The puree should be very rich, possibly slightly bitter, almost too rich to eat by itself—don’t worry, slathered over piping hot sweet corn it will be good.

Elotes

  • Cut the stems off the corn to leave an inch or so to make them easy to tie after roasting.
  • Roast (or grill) the corn in it’s green husk at 400 for 15 minutes, or until hot throughout, then remove the husk and tie (this is purely cosmetic, you can just cut it off and put the cobs on a skewer to make them easier to hold if you don’t feel like the presentation).

Assembling and serving

  • Using a brush, liberally slather each ear of corn on every side with the huitlacoche puree, then generously sprinkle the cheese over the top, garnish with a dusting of chili powder and fresh cilantro, and serve with the lime wedges on the side.

Notes

The Freshness of Huitlacoche 
Most people think of corn smut as a black, powdery, unpleasant looking pestilence. To be very clear here, powdery, soft, mushy, or otherwise unappetizing huitlacoche is past prime, and should not be used. You are looking for firm, grey kernals here, they should look fresh and...appetizing. 
Chili powder 
You want a chili powder that is spicy here. Cayenne is a little hot all by itself for me as a sprinkle, but you could mix it 50/50 with toasted ground gaujillos or anchos for a substitute. Other dried chilis, like aleppo, can also work. 

More 

Huitlacoche: History, Harvesting, Cooking and Recipes 

  

Related

Previous Post: « Traditional Mexican Huitlacoche Quesadilla
Next Post: Wild Parsnip: Harvesting, Cooking, and Safety »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan

    June 23, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    4 stars
    Nice but I think I ate too much and feel a little nauseated can the corn smut make you nauseated?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      June 23, 2022 at 6:07 pm

      Hey Dan. Sorry about the indigestion, but you need to know that has nothing to do with a recipe on this website. Sensitivities to wild mushrooms are extremely common. You may be able to eat morels, button mushrooms from a store, and every other mushroom, but you can have a sensitivity to huitlacoche. It can be as tame as an upset stomach, or it could be violent vomiting. Everyone is different. Over eating can also cause indigestion, and the thresh hold for that also varies from person to person. The amount of huitlacoche is kinda negligeable here-its not enough to constitute over-eating, especially if you just have a cob or two. Try huitlacoche again, if you get indigestion again you’ll know you’re sensitive to it.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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