Skip to main content

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

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. 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNIST Vietnam Has Defeated DEMOCRATIC Philippines Again This 2025

Cổng thông tin Trung ương Đoàn TNCS Hồ Chí Minh A few days ago, I wrote about warning Filipinos that they shouldn't wait for more unmitigated typhoon disasters, before realizing that the Filipino First Policy isn't working ! There's a statement that says, "Just because being tanga (inattentive) is libre (free), doesn't mean you should be tanga!"  Analyzing the different policies: why policies  matter I found a Business World article, written by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr., on my Facebook news feed discussing the Vietnamese economy . In fact, it would be better to share some hard truths that the article offers about what really went wrong with the  democratic Philippines compared to Communist Vietnam : DIVERGENT ECONOMIC MODELS Vietnam pursued an export-oriented manufacturing strategy which has proven significantly more successful over the past half century than the Philippines’ service-heavy, remittances-dependent model . Export performance alone tells a compellin...
Read more

External Validations, like Masters and Doctorate, Mean NOTHING with a LOUSY Education System

I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent .  I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...
Read more

Instead of Hating Successful Chinese-Filipinos, Why Not LEARN from Their SUCCESS Instead?

It's Chinese New Year and I can remember some crazy stuff back in my childhood. Right now though, there are still some Filipinos of brown descent (either Malay or Indonesian) who still have their typical bitter attitude towards successful people. I was reminded of someone who blamed the rich, rather than their poor attitude towards money, as to why she had to work as a working student. There are still some who have their attitude of hating the rich for simply being rich . I don't deny that some rich people deserve hate. But why hate the rich person who has gotten rich through honest gain and hard work? Why not learn from good rich people who can offer sound advice instead of being bitter about their success?  Some Filipinos of non-Chinese origin may feel too proud about their being "Pure Filipino". However, any study of Filipino history will reveal that their brown skin isn't too unique. We can see Malaysians and Indonesians tend to have brown skin. Some of the ea...
Read more

Economics 101: Pre-Colonial Philippine Natives Already Did Business with Foreigners

Art by Hugo Yunzon It's finally August or Buwan Ng Wika (Month of the Language), though it may be better to call it Buwan Ng Kultura (Month of the Culture). Buwan Ng Wika programs tend to focus more on the uniqueness of several types of Filipino people. What I recall back in my high school days (late 1990s) is how I was asked to play an "American" in a Buwan Ng Wika program. There were also other people asked to portray the Chinese traders, Arab traders, Indian traders, and the Japanese occupation. It would be good to do a review of the pre-colonial Philippines. The name Philippines was derived from the Spanish king, King Philip. Back then, the natives were called Indios which sounds very similar to Indonesia . Yes, most Filipinos are either Malay or Indo. A look at the Indonesians and Malaysians would have one mistake them for Filipinos. A note is that the Chinese population there usually speaks Hokkien.  From Purdue Filpino --here's some basic information about Fili...
Read more

Are People Who Insist That Workers Own the Means of Production Be Willing to Open a Business Where Workers Own the Means of Production?

Last 2022, I wrote two articles on the means of production. One article I wrote refutes the idea that workers, not the business owners, own the means of production . Another article discussed whether or not anti-capitalists have no choice because capitalists own the means of production . The other day, I wrote a dare where I want people who insist on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics (higher salaries, lower prices) to open stores that operate on that mindset . I'm afraid that what I wrote was merely the tip of the iceberg . With that in mind, I'd like to ask people who say that the workers own the means of production to open a business, where the workers own the means of production. What's their reasoning behind the logic that the workers own the means of production? The common logic is that because the workers did all the hard work they own the production. They say that the businessman can die but not the workers. It's because according to these smart alecks--it's b...
Read more