Starring Huitlacoche: A Mexican Delicacy

By Editor August 16, 2016 09:58

(Featured Image: Flor de Calabaza and Huitlacoche Quesadillas / Flickr Creative Commons)

By: Brian Garrido

In New York City during the late eighties and early nineties, there appeared a flurry of restaurants dedicated to southwestern and Mexican foods, mostly spearheaded by a very young Chef Bobby Flay. Long before his appearance on Food Network shows, he was a cook advocating the use of many ingredients from hatch chilies to corn salads to carne asada from the border states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Sonora. From his influence, many restaurants didn’t copy so much as expand upon the indigenous foods coming from this particular area. The names of the restaurants reflected the food such as Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Flay’s restaurant Mesa Grill, Two Boots and El Teddy’s.

I was a waiter working at El Teddy’s, a premier Tribeca restaurant which served strictly Mexican cuisine. A celebrity haven with Robert de Niro popping in – he lived in the area — John F. Kennedy Jr, in his Darryl Hannah phase, and Conan O’Brien stopping by for some Patron, the restaurant was pretty atypical with an undulating glass canopy in front and a faux Statue of Liberty crown as a landscape motif. It was – and in my opinion still is – very difficult to find delicious, homespun south of the border foods in the northeast but, El Teddy’s was special and was helmed by Chef Peter Klien, a gringo but who really took his food seriously. Then, 20 years ago, an achiote – a spice used as a marinade in Mexico – chicken burrito appetizer set you back nearly $10 smackeroos. And the margaritas were shaken – never served frozen – up and on the rocks, with almost one hundred types of tequila served at the bar. Mexican food was a high-end item. The moles where as a unique as a buerre blanc, the queso fresco literally was just flown in from Chihuahua and the celebrity and demi-monde set loved it.

This was the first place I had eaten the Mexican delicacy, huitalacoche, or corn smut to Caucasians. Sometimes, referred to as a corn mushrooms it’s literally a fungus that grows between the kernels on an ear of corn. In the US, we don’t find it. Our American corn has been cultivated to dispense of unusual tastes that in other parts of the agricultural world become part of the culinary landscape such as huitalacoche. Matter of fact, it’s illegal in the United States to encourage it’s growth since it’s a fungus.

For the most part, huitalacoche tastes like a mushroom with a corn taste on the finish. It can be a little gritty but when paired with a melted cheese and a freshly made tortilla, the vegetable sweetness shines through and surprisingly, it can still be hard to find even in south of the border restaurants.

Over the weekend at the Four Seasons dinner with the Mecinas Brothers, which included Chef Mel and his brothers Honorio and Juan, they prepared stuffed squash blossoms with huitalacoche, an Oaxacan epicurean and vegetarian delight. My dining companion, who is from Colombia but not from Mexico had never had it. For her, it was a new experience. Latin America is full of unusual tastes and textures some of which are not had in other Hispanic nations; therefore, if you don’t know it go out and try it. You will be pleasantly surprised you did.

Places to find huitalacoche:

Los Sombreros: Chef Azucena Tovar, who hails from San Miguel de Allende, stuffs Mexican quesadillas with cheese and a spoonful of the corn smut before deep-frying them. Delicious.

2534 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale

www.lossombreros.com