menu for August 19th, 2023

Sayuri’s note - August 19th, 2023

     Speaking of corn, I only knew there was sweet corn and popcorn when I was in Japan. I was confused about even hot dogs and corn dogs and as a kid, didn’t understand why they were called corn dogs even though there was no corn inside. Maybe it was its shape, I thought. Vaguely corn-like. I come from a rice culture, you know. When I made corn dogs for the first time here, for the kids, it finally made sense to me why it is called a corn dog because we used flour based pancake mixture called hot cake mix in Japan. I had no idea that cornmeal, grits, cornbread, and old timey creamed corn were all made from field corn.

     I love sweet corn, but Joe loves field corn more. He loves planting them in the garden and then he cooks old timey creamed corn for us. Our field corn is a neighborhood kind called Willy’s corn. Willy Dowdy, an old-timer in our neighborhood, gave some seeds to Joe a long time ago. It's a dent corn for cornmeal and animals. I have never seen such a tall corn plant. It grows about ten feet tall. I was surprised at the deep corn culture here the first time I visited from Japan. Have you heard of the story of “Selu”, the Cherokee corn goddess? Joe told us that he ate old timey creamed corn fritters at his grandma Mom-Mom's house when he was a little boy, and he ate old timey creamed corn on a visit to Willy and Thelma’s house. Some of our other friends, like Era Jarrard and our neighbor Carol, told us that they love to eat old timey creamed corn and recalled eating it often when they were kids. 

     Today, there are many people who love making creamed corn from sweet corn. But this old timey creamed corn is very special now. You can't buy it at the store. You only have field corn as "green corn" for roasting ears or creamed corn for about ten days, while kernels are still nice and tender, not hard yet. The taste is very savory, not sweet like sweet corn, but has a natural sweetness and flavor. You husk the corn and cut off the top of the kernels with a potato peeler and scrape out the inside corn "cream" with a knife. You’ll be surprised that there are so many layers of husk and beautiful shiny light green and brown silk. When you scrape the corn, it makes a mess everywhere. My glasses, arms, t-shirt, pants, shoes, and floor get covered with tiny white dots. I am getting used to it, but it’s still a mess. 

Here is how to cook old-timey creamed corn. For six ears of corn, we get about a cup of water boiling in a saucepan. Pour the "creamed corn" (made by the scraping process mentioned earlier) into the boiling water and stir frequently for about five minutes, or until it thickens to desired consistency. You can add some butter, salt, cheese, or eat it as is. We’ll serve the old timey creamed corn tonight. Enjoy!

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