Corn Recipes to Celebrate the Sweet Golden Harvest

More like suggested combinations, these corn recipes give you a baseline for experimentation, so as always, follow your tastebuds and intuition, and enjoy the late fall harvest of sweet corn!

I didn’t grow up amongst the cornfields, but I could feel the traces of them, the whispers of the farmers whose bloodline I shared. Every time I find myself in an open field, if I’m truly quiet, I can feel a connection to those who worked so hard, who gambled with the elements, who hardened their hands through work, and who sat at the table with a mix of need, enthusiasm and probably, pure exhaustion. Through hard work, the table became a sacred space, the glaring showcase of a triumphant harvest or the lack thereof. I take great pride in zea mays, the golden kernels gifted to our forefathers by the indigenous people.

The large stalks were a constant in my youth. The sweet, simple taste of butter and salt on a cob, the way the kernels scrape off in rows, the bags of frozen corn that would last us through the winter. Corn, above all the other harvests, grew to symbolize my history, the history of food, and the loss of the trust we once had in our food sources. I’ve driven by miles and miles of GMO corn, past the monstrous machines that work the fields, past a pyramid of inedible excess that couldn’t be eaten. Most of the time, I try so hard to avoid corn, scouring labels for “corn syrups” or hints of the companies, like Monsanto, that have all but ruined my golden symbol.

So, when I find true corn, corn with history, sweet, imperfect corn from smaller farms, who have put their foot down, who have held fast to purity, all I want to do is celebrate! And while the absolute best way to eat corn is still just a simple slathering of butter and a sprinkling of salt, it wouldn’t be a proper ode if I didn’t begin to experiment.

So, I present to you, Corn Recipes To Celebrate the Sweet Golden Harvest (plus, a few more to come!). More like corn combinations, these flavor pairings give you a baseline for experimentation, so as always, follow your tastebuds and intuition.