365 True Things: 139/Corn

Today was a gloriously hot day. Especially glorious when I was sitting in the shade of an oak and a nice breeze was wafting over me.

We don't get heat here on the central coast of California all that often, so it's special. Though after about a day of it, everybody starts bitching. We're a bunch of softies.

The heat made me think a little of summer in Wisconsin—which does get plenty of überwarm weather, as well as humidity, and thunderstorms.

I loved those cracking good thunderstorms. I remember the first day my friend Kathi and I pulled into Madison and connected with her old friend Mario. He took us downtown, to State Street. We were strolling along, window gawking, catching up, sweating, when all of a sudden, having glanced up at the sky, he said, "We'd better get inside. Here's a bar. Let's get a beer." It was about 4 p.m. Seemed a little early for a beer to me, but I wasn't going to argue.

No sooner had we settled at our table and ordered beer and bar food than BAM, a thunder clap near knocked us off our chairs. Then it started pouring. And it poured. And poured. We were sitting by a window, and I just sat staring out at the deluge, mesmerized. And when we finished our snack and emerged onto the street, the air seemed twenty degrees cooler—beautifully fresh.

So yes: it's hot and muggy in the Midwest, but oh, those refreshing thunderstorms!

But the other thing that kept flitting into my mind today, as I was sitting in the heat, was end-of-season corn. Fat cobs full of juicy, sweet, succulent kernels. Mmmm-mmmmmm-mmmmmmmm.

Partly I was thinking of four cobs I picked yesterday from a huge pile of white corn cobs in the Safeway, destined for corn soup. We never used to get heaps of corn, but now we do, and I'm not complaining. I love corn. It's one of the few in-season vegetables anymore. Something you genuinely get to look forward to.

But more, I was thinking of a corn festival I went to at the end of my stay in Wisconsin. Corn picked fresh from the very field adjacent to the festival site, that very day—that very hour, maybe even. Corn that had roasted, or steamed (lightly), in its wrapper every day for the previous several months, maturing into the most remarkable taste treat I'd ever had. In the corn department, anyway.

A friend of mine's wife was born in Germany, and she refuses to eat corn on the cob "because it's for pigs." Oh, sweetie, what you're missing out on!

So yeah: summer; heat; fresh corn. We don't really get any of those predictably on the central coast (it really should be cool and foggy right now: our "summer" typically comes in October; and corn? I have no idea where the tableful at the Safeway comes from, but I'm betting it's not the Midwest). But I'm glad we're getting a nice trifecta now.

Here's the recipe for Indian-spiced corn soup we're making for dinner this evening:

• 4 Tb butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tb grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
• Large pinch cayenne
• 3 cups corn kernels, from 4 ears
• Salt and pepper
• Whole milk plain yogurt, for garnish 
• 1 Tb chopped chives, for garnish
• A few cilantro sprigs, for garnish
• Lime wedges, for garnish, optional

1. Put butter in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds, and cayenne and sizzle for a minute or so.
2. Add corn kernels and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add 4 cups water and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Puree soup in a blender. Check seasoning and adjust salt.
3. To serve, ladle into small bowls. Garnish each with 2 tablespoons thick yogurt. Sprinkle with chives and cilantro sprigs. Add a squeeze of lime.