Huitlacoche has a dark gray color like mildew, which looks scary at first, but is a very popular dish in Mexico.

Mold is something that farmers who grow crops “hate bitterly” because no one wants to collect the grains of rice, beans, and corn kernels with black mold and red mold because that’s only determined to be thrown away, not sold. Who buys, gives no one to take. However, in Mexico, people who grow corn only like moldy corn because it is a specialty with a strange name Huitlacoche – pronounced: weet-la-koh-cheh.

“Huitlacoche” means corn anthrax. In fact, this is a disease that damages plants, derived from the fungus Ustilago maydis, common in corn-growing regions of the world. This fungus grows on corn cobs after rain causing the kernels to turn into unusual white, gray, pink and black bumps, also known as huitlacoche corn mold.

In theory, the disease-causing mold will affect the farmer’s crop, but this fungus has the effect of making the famous Mexican dish.

At a glance, these corn molds do not look beautiful, even frightening to many people, but to Mexicans, it looks very appetizing because they come up with a unique dish made from mold pieces. that corn.

Mexicans separate the huitlacoche from the corn and then make a variety of flavorful traditional dishes such as quesadillas, tamales, soups, or tacos.

Once cooked, the huitlacoche turns black and is slightly gelatinous. People often add garlic and chili to the dish to increase the rich flavor and balance the strong smell of the earth, making the dish with huitlacoche bring an unmistakable characteristic taste.

Scientists have also proven that huitlacoche has even higher nutritional value than corn cobs. So corn infected with the fungus that looks bad can be sold at a much higher price.

The dishes are made from huitlacoche.

Since ancient times, Mexicans have always considered corn to be a very sacred plant, anything that grows on it is considered a gift from God, extremely precious. So, if you have the opportunity to set foot in this country, you should try dishes made from huitlacoche to see the sophistication of the cuisine of the indigenous people.

If you can’t find fresh huitlacoche in the market, you can easily find fresh or frozen canned huitlacoche throughout Mexico.

Today, this Mexican specialty dish is also becoming more and more popular around the world, people opening restaurant chains specializing in serving huitlacoche with the name “Mexican truffles”.