30 August 2007

all ears

native corn has no equal. its sweet kernels are worth the summer long wait. in mid july i start to watch for the roadside signs that signal the arrival of the local crop. in anticipation of its coming ive made and frozen chunks of dill butter to spread over steaming ears. when corn finally comes in i eat it every single night. one ear sometimes two. a family run farm stand nearby supplies most of our community and becomes a late summer place to chat with neighbors and friends as you stock up on tomatoes and pies and jams. but when i stopped there for tonights corn there were pumpkins decorating the hay bales and mums on the counters. a sure sign that corns remaining days are numbered.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i knew you'd get around to mentioning the only other culinary delight, besides the clam chowder and the blueberries, that i love and miss terribly over here in Spain. recently, in the past couple of years, fresh corn on the cob has appeared in the supermercado but it doesn't hold a candle to the "real" thing. i eat it and remember. jg

chris said...

i could probably live without the clam chowder and blueberries. but corn is definitely another story. and youre right - even here, supermarket corn is not the same as the "real" thing picked just hours before you cook it and eat it.

Anonymous said...

the spanish people would never eat corn until a few years ago as that was all they had to eat during the Civil War and the long lean years during the time of Franco. it started to be put on salads at first and then the frozen ears appeared and then, finally, the fresh at one supermarket only. there was one restaurant that included it, along with baked potatoes, but i noticed that they have stopped offering it which probably means no one was asking for it.

Anonymous said...

In Germany, only the cows eat the corn. What a shame...mv