Sweetcorn smut

[Millymollymandy]

I've got a lot of it . Didn't know what it was until I googled - last year I had one cob go like this but didn't take a lot of notice but this year there are more and more of them forming. If I was Mexican I'd be happy as apparently it is a delicacy there but somehow fungal infected sweetcorn kernels all brown and mushroomy like don't appeal to me somehow.

Here's a google image:



Mine look worse especially when they have split open and all the black insides are showing.

Now I know what it is I have to go out there and remove and destroy them immediately and NO, NOT EVEN FOR ISH AM I DOING A TASTE TEST!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_smut

[Millymollymandy]

Here's a photo of one of mine looking really delectable and delish ....... This one has caused the main flowering stem to snap which is now dangling and not going to be of much use to the others.

Sweetcorn Smut.jpg (106.4 KiB) Viewed 3581 times

[Millymollymandy]

Well despite that I have tons of corn cobs and I'm getting sick of eating them! Off to check out Odsox's instructions for getting off the kernels so that I can freeze some.....

[eccentric_emma]

When I saw the subject heading I thought you'd found some more rude veggies!

Susie

I was (not so) secretly hoping for this too!

[Millymollymandy]

Oh you are such bad people!

[Green Aura]

It looks really grotesque but I figure if it's edible it's not a complete waste.

What do they do with it then?

[Gert]

That's pretty grim, what's it called

[Millymollymandy]

That's pretty grim, what's it called

It is called smut (see heading ) or it is also called corn truffles, if you are a chef trying to get people interested in 'new' foody things. From what I read it didn't take off!

[Gert]

oh I see ( I'll get my coat)

[Millymollymandy]

It looks really grotesque but I figure if it's edible it's not a complete waste.

What do they do with it then?

It's explained a bit in that Wiki link I gave above. I think that what you see in the photos here is when it has gone too far over. Supposed to taste mushroomy because it is a fungus. Apparently in Mexico you get far higher prices for cobs with smut and they deliberately infect their plants!