Huitlacoche
Ustilago maydis · Fungus
Top 10 pairings
Huitlacoche (also spelt cuitlacoche) is the edible corn smut — the plump, silver-grey to blue-black GALLS that the fungus Ustilago maydis grows in place of ordinary kernels on the developing ear of maize. Prized in Mexico as a delicacy and marketed abroad as the "Mexican truffle," it is one of the few plant diseases deliberately cultivated to eat: swollen, mushroomy and inky, with a deep earthy-sweet, smoky-savoury flavour that tastes of both corn and mushroom at once. It is always eaten cooked.
Picking a good onedrag
Silver-grey, firm, sealedSplit, sooty, spore-dry
Grey-blueMarket bestThe all-rounder — quesadillas, tacos, crepes, soup; the inky juice runs blackest here.
Skin of the gallDuller grey-blue, still smooth and whole
In the handFirm still, gives a little under a thumb
Broken openBlue-black and juicy; it bleeds grey
SmellDeep mushroom and earth, clean
What you get from one
260 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A domestic fridge holds it about 4× longer than the counter.
95%
Humidity
Loosely wrapped, kept cold
Airflow