It's
not quite summertime in the Northern Hemisphere, but here in Southern
California, we're already enjoying fresh corn on the cob.
(I
guess it's a sign of the times—in many places all over the world,
we can and do expect to get yummy fruits and vegetables all year
long. If they're not harvesting apples two towns away, the local
grocery stores are still stocking apples brought in from Chile or
Washington state. If it's too early for tomatoes in my garden, I can
still get hothouse tomatoes at Trader Joe's.)
Last
weekend I had some of the best corn on the cob of my whole
life—rubbed with rosemary olive oil and grilled! In honor of the
day, grill some corn, or of course you can also boil corn on the cob
in a pot or “nuke” it in the microwave.
Here are some yummy
recipes for corn on the cob. (Recipes are divided into categories:
delicious, spicy, cheesy, and sweeeeet.)
A
brief history of corn
This
important grain didn't look anything like the corn we enjoy today,
back when Native Americans living in Southern Mexico first discovered
it around 7,000 years ago. It looked like (and was!) a sort of wild
grass. The Indians called it teosinte, and they cultivated it
carefully, “crossing” plants that had the largest seeds or
kernels with each other, until they finally developed a plant
resembling a small version of modern corn.
The
Mexican Indians called the new plant that they had created maize.
It was a huge hit—people began to trade maize, and to carry the
knowledge of how to grow maize as they migrated. Indians began to
grow maize as far south as Peru, in South America, all the way up
Mexico, into the North American southwest and even to the eastern
woodlands of what is now New England. This grain became a staple of
many native diets (that is, the main source of calories and
nutrients).
When
Columbus “discovered” America, he also discovered corn. People in
Asia and Africa and Europe had never seen or heard of corn before
Columbus!
Once
the “New World” and “Old World” were in contact, there was a
great exchange of foods, including plants and seeds to grow on farms
and animals to raise for milk or eggs or meat. Part of the exchange
was corn. Now not only is corn part of people's diets all over the
world, corn is often used to feed farm animals. Fabrics are
strenthened by cornstarch, glues and inks contain corn oil or other
corn products, ethanol (made from corn) fuels some vehicles, and corn
has found its way into medicines, shoe polish, and cosmetics.
Corn
is a good food that can be part of a healthy diet, but somewhere
along the way, people discovered that high fructose corn syrup, made
from corn, is a cheap way of sweetening food, and now there is far
too much corn in most Americans' diets. You should eat most of your
corn as fresh, delicious corn—and skip the processed foods
that have “high fructose corn syrup” high on their lists of
ingredients.
For
a longer history of corn, check out History Detective.
Also
on this date:
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