Huitlacoche (corn smut) is a fungus, Ustilago maydis, that infects corn plants. In the US it is a disease; in Mexico it is a delicacy. The fungus infects the ovaries, and instead of putting out kernels of corn, it makes kernels of delicious high-protein fungus!

I first ate it 20 years ago or more at the Hotel de Cortés in Mexico City. Since then, I’ve had it many times in restaurants, and also bought it at the market and cooked it (with Elissa). You see it in the traditional markets, usually separated from the cob and ready to cook.