Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chili Butter

Corn on the cob can be grilled a couple different ways, either with or without the husks still on. Doing them naked like this takes away a bit of the moisture but leaves nice grill marks and a slight smokiness that contrasts well with its natural sweetness. Corn is a good source of B vitamins, antioxidants and fiber and it has been a staple food for many cultures in North, Central and South America for thousands of years. European colonists who came to the new world in the fourteen and fifteen hundreds and didn’t adopt the local cuisine commonly suffered from pellagra. It is a disease caused by a deficiency in vitamin B3 (a.k.a. niacin), and marked through symptoms like indigestion, fatigue, depression, memory loss, headaches and anxiety. The Natives had been able to avoid this disease because of their corn consumption and the ways they prepared it. They often cooked corn in water mixed with ashes, which made the vitamin B3 more bioavailable- meaning it becomes easier for the body to absorb and use. It is likely that they did not understand the molecular benefits but they figured out that adding the ashes made the husks easier to remove and accentuated the flavour- giving a barbecued taste long before barbecues came to be.

All produce is better in flavour and nutrient content the fresher it is, but corn is especially so. The sugars start to change into starches once it is picked so for the sweetest, juiciest corn try to consume it the day you bring it home. In most varieties, excluding super sweet ones, the conversion is so fast that after only 24 hours around half of the sugars have become starches. Choose corn that has fresh, vibrantly green husks that have not started to dry up at all. You can sneak a peak at the kernels by peeling back some of the leaves near the top and they should be plump and tightly packed in. They come in many different colours from white to yellow to red to blue to purple, and freshness is more important to flavour and nutrient content then depth of colour.
Freshly picked summer corn really doesn’t need much but when I’m feeling fancy I like to slather on a bit of spiced or herbed butter and sprinkle on some fresh herbs. There are pre-made garlic and herb butters everywhere that are really good but making some at home isn’t very tricky and it’s completely customizable. Chill powder, a pre-made combination usually of paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano, allspice, cloves and garlic further accentuates the smoky grilled flavour and has just enough spice to compliment the sweetness of the corn without overpowering it. The morning of, or a few hours before I scoop some butter into an oven proof measuring spoon, throw some spices on top and then place it into a hot oven (preheated a couple minutes before to around 400°) face down in a baking dish. The butter melts out as it heats up and liquifies in just a few minutes. Then I take the dish out, whisk the butter around so the spices are evenly distributed and spoon it into little silicone baking cups (for mini muffins) and place it into the fridge to harden back up. Before serving the butter pops right out of the cups and is in a small, easily spreadable shape. Ice cube trays work too, especially if they are silicone and can be pushed inside out to remove the butter easily.