Sometimes the Sickness Is Better

The other night Richard Bonomo and I were at the Mexican restaurant right by his house, and I ordered a huitlacoche quesadilla as is my wont. Rich asked,

"If huitlacoche is good, is neuflacoche better?"

"Yes, it is un mieux," I replied, though of course huitlacoche is not a French word at all but a Nahuatl one that means something lovely like "raven droppings." In English it does not fare much better, since it is commonly referred to as "corn smut." People have been trying to raise this humble fungus's profile in the gourmet world by referring to it as "corn truffles," and this particular restaurant we were at refers to it as "mushroom that grows on the corn," but the fact is that it is ugly. It is an infection. Native Mexicans would purposely infect their corn with it, but when the gringos came, they tried to eradicate the infections. However, huitlacoche is far more valuable than an uninfected ear of corn to someone in the know. It is a delicacy, and if you enjoy mushrooms, you would probably like it. (If you hate mushrooms to begin with, you might as well not bother.)

Corn is a fine food, don't get me wrong, but it would be a grave mistake to eradicate the corn smut infection so that every ear of corn was "perfect," because huitlacoche is much more nutritious. It is worth sacrificing some corn, as the Native Mexicans did, so that some of them will produce the deformed kernels the color of wet cement that signal the infection of corn smut. Kathbert told me she once found an ear of corn with several infected kernels on it at the Farmer's Market, and so she quickly grabbed it, but then the seller spotted the infection and refused to sell it to her. Was this because she mistakenly thought Kathbert had not noticed the infection but would be disgusted when she found it? Or was it because she realized one ear infected with corn smut is worth many uninfected ears to those in the know?

I personally love huitlacoche and was very happy to hear from Rich that there was recently a newspaper article about what a good source of nutrition it is, particularly for vegetarians, since it contains proteins that are usually only found in meat. I like to think that this humble fungus, with its ugly appearance and unflattering common names, is a metaphor for those things in life that at first seem to be a curse but, when you know what to look for, turn out to be a blessing. Just as an infected ear of corn is far more valuable than a healthy one, perhaps many of the "problems" that arise in our lives will turn out to be greater blessings than those gifts we more easily recognize.

Famous Hat