Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jan 6, 2009 17:57:49 GMT -6
The smuts (Ustilaginales) are distant relatives of our beloved Boletus and Agaricus. These fungi are called smuts because they form black dusty spore masses that resemble soot or smut. Over 1,000 species of smut fungi are known. All are parasitic on angiosperms (flowering plants) with over 75 families of angiosperms being infected. The rusts (Uredinales) are an even larger grouping of plant parasites, with over 4,000 known species. With over 5,000 species of rusts and smuts the only the corn smut (Ustilago maydis) is commonly eaten as food.
Growing on corn, Ustilago maydis forms large, swollen, kernel-like globules with soft black flesh covered by a silvery gray skin. Huitlacoche (pronounced wee-tlah-KOH-cheh) is the Nahuatl word for this fungus. Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs and Huitlacoche has undoubtedly been eaten in central Mexico since before the times of the Aztecs.
You will probably never see fresh Huitlacoche sold outside of Mexico, but you can often find it canned in local Mexican markets. Even canned it is delicious, with an inky, mushroomy flavor that is hard to describe but easy to experience in this wonderful soup.
Growing on corn, Ustilago maydis forms large, swollen, kernel-like globules with soft black flesh covered by a silvery gray skin. Huitlacoche (pronounced wee-tlah-KOH-cheh) is the Nahuatl word for this fungus. Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs and Huitlacoche has undoubtedly been eaten in central Mexico since before the times of the Aztecs.
You will probably never see fresh Huitlacoche sold outside of Mexico, but you can often find it canned in local Mexican markets. Even canned it is delicious, with an inky, mushroomy flavor that is hard to describe but easy to experience in this wonderful soup.
