Sweet Corn

'Tis the season of sweet corn...

Yesterday in a local paper, I read a gardening column by Lee Reich titled, "The sweeter the corn, the better?"  This triggered memories of corn in our garden in Danvers, and my mother's comments about how to capture the sweetness of the corn. 

Mommy insisted that corn be cooked and eaten as soon as possible after picking. Her time limit was twenty (20) minutes. She said that any delay would spoil the taste of the corn because the sugar in the corn kernels would be changing to starch. Her habit was to starting heating a pot of water first, and then go out to her garden to pick ripe ears to plunge quickly in the boiling water. 

That fresh corn was deliciously flavorful and sweet! 

Unfortunately, my mother's lesson lingered with me for years, inhibiting me from buying any ears of corn in a supermarket, or even a roadside stand. How could such corn, hours or days away from picking, ever meet my mother's standard?  Impossible. 

Fortunately, newer varieties of sweet corn have been developed in the years (decades!) since my childhood. The newspaper article this weekend gave me many examples, with some details about specific genes involved in raising the sugar level in corn kernels. The author does confirm the wisdom of my mother's old-fashioned habit ("sugars in corn start changing to starch as soon as the ear is picked") but states that many of new varieties can retain considerable sweetness for many days, if refrigerated.  They still tend to lose sweetness over time, but more slowly, and they have been bred to start with higher levels of sugar content.

My husband and I have been enjoying ears of fresh corn this month, bought from farmers' markets or farm stores. We have been pleasantly surprised by the good sweet taste of purchased corn, even after several days refrigeration. A few years ago we attempted growing corn in our own backyard, but squirrels or other animals stole the corn before it was mature enough for us. 

In 2007 I wrote a column titled "Garden Memories" and described some childhood experiences with corn in my mother's garden. You can read it on this blog at https://rememberingdanvers.blogspot.com/2007/08/garden-memories.html