It's More Than Time to Educate Filipinos About Corn Fungus' Edibility

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Rural Rising Philippines' Facebook Page

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Mexican food. Years ago, I remember a disgusting photo featuring corn fungus. It's called corn smut and smut isn't a pleasant word. What really was a surprise (or not) was that corn fungus is actually edible. It's called Huitlacoche and it's highly prized in Mexico. So far, no Mexican food outlet in the Philippines offers it, sad to say. I even talked to some people about it. They were surprised that it could be eaten.

Both the Philippines and Mexico used to be Spanish colonies. I ordered a few dish items from Puesto Restaurant in Cebu City. One of the beef meat dishes was called barbacoa. I'm not surprised at some similar names because the Spanish people did occupy a good portion of the Philippines for nearly 300 years. A dish I ate called el polo loco literally means crazy chicken. Loco means crazy and Filipino language uses loko as crazy. Sadly, none of the Mexican restaurants featured corn fungus on the menu.

The awareness that corn fungus can be eaten may not be that huge. It's a shame really because it's often thrown out. I could understand if other types of fungi were thrown away because they're poisonous. Not all mushrooms are edible either. It turns out that while any corn that's hit with deadly fungus should be thrown out--this fungus can be eaten after all!

Sorry to say but not all GMA-7 videos have English subtitles for non-Tagalog speakers. I don't have a transcript either so sorry in advance. Just watching this video might help more Filipino agriculturists raise locally-produced corn fungus. I may enjoy some imported food products but I prefer food that's freshly produced in the local area. If I go to another country, I'd probably ask what's the best local food products so I can eat fresh. Rather than try to get some shipments from Mexico--why not grow more of them in the Philippines instead? I'm still in favor of importation but it's still good to learn new food production in similar climates. 

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