Vegannosaurus Rex

I had an epiphany tonight. Raw corn on the cob.

I didn’t discover this on my own, mind you. That honor goes to the beautiful and multi talented Katie Foerter, a raw/vegan chef here in my hometown of Atlanta. I need to get that introduction out of the way because she will appear in many posts moving forward. She’s my raw diet spiritual advisor. I ask her endless questions regarding a raw food diet and raw food preparation, and she is always more than gracious in responding to my inquiries and encouraging my experimentation. I owe her a debt of gratitude i will never be able to repay.

ON WITH THE CORN…

I have always loved corn, especially on the cob. I remember watching my father have to cut the corn off of the cob when i was a kid due to his dentures. It was too painful for him to eat the corn directly off of the cob. I always thought he was missing out on something special, and as odd as it sounds, i think about my father meticulously (he does everything in this manner) cutting the corn off of the cob so as not to miss a single kernel. Its as if he was eating the corn off the cob, but with a knife instead of his incisors.

‘JERSEY CORN’

My father’s side of the family is from New Jersey. Anyone that has spent any time in New Jersey understands three things, New Jersey is proud of their corn, their tomatoes and the fact that New Jersey is considered the ’safest state.’ That last distinction is a reference to the fact that they have the lowest amount of car insurance claims per capita than any other state. Jersey Corn, white and sweet. I’ve never met anyone from New Jersey (most of the people are relatives) that wasn’t proud of ‘Jersey corn.’ And, to be honest, for good reason.

My grandmother used to make this wonderful dish for Thanksgiving every year, Jiffy Corn. Whew, its corn nirvana. A box of Jiffy Corn mix, creamed corn, multiple ears of fresh corn, cheese, butter. Oof, i need a nap. My grandmother’s Jiffy Corn always seemed like dessert, in fact, i used to get a second helping in place of dessert. I actually made a vegan version of this dish for Thanksgiving last year, its was surprisingly close to the original, and was a huge hit with everyone, carnivores included, but that’s a post for another day.

REKINDLED LOVE AFFAIR

Recently, this past summer in fact, my love affair with corn was rekindled, in the form of grilled corn. Myself and another friend, Erlene Zierke, had an ever so slight obsession with ‘grilled cron.’ Many (and by ‘many’ i mean 3) a summer night were spent grilling corn over the gas grill at Erlene’s apartment. Techniques were researched and studied, the corn was shopped for at multiple venues, and most importantly, cron was eaten in abundance. I really like corn.

Enter Katie. Upon meeting Katie she began her slow (4 week) sales pitch of raw corn on the cob. I was surprisingly skeptical. I literally never even considered eating corn on the cob raw, until, and i’m not kidding about this, the week before meeting Katie, and then it was only in passing, because, quite frankly, it sounded ridiculous. So, back to the sales pitch:

‘try biting into corn on the cob raw, its so sweet and so juicy. The first time i had it the corn juice was running down my arm and it was a really bright yellow, when have you ever seen bright yellow juice come out of cooked corn?’

I was still skeptical. Biting into a raw ear of corn just seemed…odd. Well, i bought two ears of corn yesterday at the Dekalb Farmers Market with the idea of using them in a salsa i was making for raw tacos. I made the ‘mistake’ of articulating how proud i was of myself for buying, and intending to eat, raw corn while on the phone with Katie this evening. Oops. The gauntlet was dropped. It was demanded that i bite into a cob of corn right there on the spot…while on the phone with her. I resisted, hemmed and hawed for a bit before deciding it was much easier to just agree with said female than try to resist.

Ummm….Raw corn is an elevated experience. Take a boiled, or grilled, ear of corn and elevated all of the aspects of the experience. The texture, juiciness, flavor, sweetness. Raw corn is amazing, truly. Its everything corn is, then add a little more. Crunchy, juicy, sweet, uber-flavor. I was truly overwhelmed by the sweetness. I think i said, about eight times, ‘its so sweet’ on the phone.

Try raw corn on the cob. Its rawsome.