Dining on smut and other corny puns

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the smut fungus Ustilago maydis that grows on sweetcorn. While doing that, I found out that it is edible, and in Mexico is eaten as a delicacy called 'huitlacoche'. I also mentioned that if I found some more that wasn't quite so over-mature, I'd try it. I found some, I cooked it, and I ate it. So, in a rare departure from ecology on 'the spot', here are a couple of pics of the taste test.

A cob with U. maydis growing on it, being chopped and prepared.

Bits of huitlacoche fried and ready to eat.

The outcome of the taste test was pretty favourable - unsurprisingly a kind of cross between mushroom and sweetcorn, and quite subtle. I've found another growth in our sweetcorn patch, so that will be cultivated and I'll try more next time...