Sweet Summer Corn
The next time you’re in a car driving down the middle-of-a-nowhere-road, surrounded by beautiful corn fields, allow yourself to daydream about running through those tall stalks.
With a hypnotic affect, corn fields spark imagination like in the movie Field of Dreams when Shoeless Joe Jackson and his old pals called to Kevin Costner’s character, “build it and they will come”.
Wrapped inside its green-hued husks with top-hanging silky tassels is one of summer’s simple pleasures — fresh, delicious corn.
Corn feeds people around the world and contributes to technologies that fuel humankind. As of 2017, corn production in the United States was more than 14 billion bushels.
Corn Is A World Traveler
Corn comes from a long, ancestral line that stretches back 10,000 years to Mexico.
The word corn comes from the Spanish word maize.
After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Christopher Columbus and other explorers took corn back to their homelands.
From there it spread all over the world.
There are many varieties of corn, but the one we love to eat the most is sweet corn, a variety of corn called dent corn.
Sweet corn came from a genetic mutation from one strain of corn around the mid-1700s.
In its purest form, corn is 100 percent whole grain and is quite healthy with a good amount of fiber and vitamin C.
How To Pick The Best Ear of Corn
So, how do you pick the best ear of corn?
Well, you’re not going to hear the voice of Shoeless Joe, but there are a few, easy pointers.
- Avoid husks with tiny, brown holes, which means there are worms.
- Avoid corn if the tassels are dry or black.
For good corn, feel through the husks for plump and plentiful kernels.
You Can’t Go Wrong With Sweet Summer Corn
Sweet corn is delicious with no cooking necessary.
Toss some fresh kernels in a salad.
You can also, grill it, boil, or steam it on the cob, or try my creamed corn recipe.
There’s so many options.
You simply can’t go wrong with an ear of fresh, sweet summer corn.
Or try my creamed corn.