Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Kitchen Collection [33]

It's the height of summer (although you wouldn't know it around here) and Americans everywhere, including in France, think of corn on the cob.

Our corn picks don't get much use here in the French countryside. Our best corn comes in cans.

And you can't eat corn on the cob without fancy corn picks now, can 'ya ? Well, you can, but what fun is that ? These little guys are even shaped like little corn cobs. In fact, they remind me of those yellow plastic ones we always had around when I was a kid.

Unfortunately, for the past twenty-three-odd years I've lived in places (France, San Francisco) where the corn on the cob is not particularly good. Those of you from the US East Coast or Midwest know what I'm talking about.

And it can be soooo good, too. Simply boiled in a big pot of water then slathered with butter, salt and pepper, mmmm mmmm ! Or another favorite : wrap the shucked ears in foil with butter, olive oil, S&P, then throw them on the grill for a while. Even grilled in the husks, good corn can't be beat.

How's the corn where you live ?

6 comments:

  1. Even for those of us who only spent two years in the Middle-West the idea of corn on the cob is a mouth watering one.

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  2. You probably know this, but you can get corn on the cob at Picard. It's pricey, but absolutely delicious, especially slathered with salty Breton butter - we actually had some last night!

    And I just brought 12 of those picks back from the US in June - we used them at our 4th of July picnic. All of the Frenchies were hesitant at first ("it's pig food", blah blah blah), but I think I've converted them!

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  3. Down here in Dixie we have a white corn called "Silver Queen"- it beats that horse corn you Yankees eat up North;-)

    I wish I could smuggle some over for you to taste.

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  4. I beg to differ, Walt. We get seriously tasty corn, white corn at that, from our local farmer's market in Oakland. It's certainly better than the Silver Queen we used to get from the eastern shore of Maryland when I was a kid.

    I will concede, however, that I've only been in the mid-west long enough to change planes, so there may be a whole level of corn deliciousness I've not experienced.

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  5. It all sounds corny to me...

    Emotions run high in the corn fields. Sam reminds me that French people don't really think of corn as people food. It's feed corn that they grow over here and it's not good to eat.

    But, as she says, you can buy it frozen at Picard, or in cans, and it's pretty tasty.

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  6. I have just returned from the midwest... too early for corn. But midwest corn is the best!!!!

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