Farming fungus in Florida.

• Author: Werner, Louis
• Position: Florida farmer tries to grow corn fungus huitlacoche used in cooking - Brief Article

FORTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Roy Burns of Groveland, Florida, has something growing in his field that most farmers dread the sight of--corn fungus. In the last six years Burns has almost cornered the U.S. market for this latest ethnic food fad known by its Latin taxonym, ustilago maydis, but more commonly by its Nahuatl name, huitlacoche.

While other farmers fear outbreaks of the crop-killing plague they curse as "corn smut," Burns hopes to get rich off it. "People think I'm crazy for trying to grow this stuff on purpose," he says. "But one of these days I'll get it right and then I'll be the huitlacoche king."

Huitlacoche is a delicacy in Mexican cooking, but its availability in the market is an unforeseen accident of the growing season. Rain, temperature, and wind all play a role in making the fungus break out in any given field at any given time. If an outbreak does occur, a farmer in Mexico might lose his corn but can sell his huitlacoche to any number of buyers.

It is not so simple in the U.S., however, where huitlacoche is not as well known as, say, mushrooms--still every bit the fungus as the Mexican variety. But Mexican chefs, cookbook authors, and restaurants north of the border call increasingly for this hard-to-find ingredient. It has even found its way onto menus of many non-Mexican eateries as an exotic garnish. Legend has it that Emperor Maximilian rolled huitlacoche in his crepes, turning it overnight into a rare French treat.

Josefina Howard, owner of New York City's Rosa Mexicana restaurant on the tony East Side, has done more than anyone to popularize huitlacoche in the U.S., serving up about one hundred pounds a week. "Huitlacoche has a wonderful earthy corn taste--and cooks into the most elegant black color," she says. "It's so adaptable, it can go in anything--soup, sauce, ice cream, you name it."

The Burns farm...