Andrew Coppolino: corn on the cob tastes like summer

Crunching into juicy, crisp sweet corn slathered in butter and liberally dosed with salt: It's a summer ritual, a rite of passage, that is 9,000 years old.

After wheat and rice, corn is the food crop that humans grow more than any other. It has helped sustain entire ancient cultures – Incan, Mayan, Aztec – as well as indigenous peoples across North and South America, including Canada's First Nations, who relied on the crop and selected varieties that produced quickly and bountifully.

Today, like a bit of kernel stuck between your teeth, it's no surprise that corn on the cob is firmly embedded in our food culture. 

A top crop in Canada 

There are several different kinds of corn, many of which were familiar to native North Americans: Dent or "cattle" corn (for animal feed), flint corn (which Indigenous people "popped" on open fires), flour corns (often multi-coloured) and, of course, sweet corn.

Corn is Canada's third most valuable crop behind canola and wheat, worth more than $2 billion. In Canada in 2011, about 36,000 farms reported growing corn for grain or silage; however, by comparison, there were only approximately 3,000 farms growing sweet corn, according to Statistics Canada, harvesting the treasured ears from July to October.

A sugary sweet corn history

The vast majority of corn you see growing as you drive the countryside is dent corn (as the waxy starch dries out, a little "dent" forms on the kernel): it is used for animal feed, processing into ethanol and a plethora of other industrial applications.

But when it comes to your summer barbecue, there are three classifications of sweet corn that we eat: Normal sugary, sugar-enhanced and supersweet. These will have kernels that are either yellow, yellow and white (bi-colour) or white. There are many varieties for each classification, and they could have charming names such as Kandy Korn, Flavourvee and Silver Queen.

Select the right ear for the job

If you're a stickler for corn, then picking the right kind for your needs is important, according to Trevor Herrle-Braun of Herrle's Country Farm Market in St. Agatha, Ont. Growing and selling their corn since 1964, the Herrle's name has become synonymous with field-to-table corn. A Herrle favourite is a bi-colour variety called Navajo that demands nearly immediate consumption. 

"It's the corn that you will want to eat that night," Herrle-Braun said.

A variety that appears early in corn season because it can withstand cooler soils, Navajo should be stored in its husk in your refrigerator for only a few days – after that time, it loses flavour and becomes tough as sugars convert to starch. Cook it for only about seven minutes.  

A corn option with a longer shelf life is Gourmet Sweet, Herrle-Braun said. This variety can last up to a week refrigerated without losing freshness and flavour.

"If you are going to keep it for a couple of days, keep the husks on and keep it in the fridge, especially if you're going on a road trip," he said. "It's a good variety to take up to the cottage."

If you really care about the corn you munch in its fleeting summer season, then find a purveyor who can tell you a bit about the variety, when it was picked and how long it will last before you cook it. Those crisp, buttery ears and their history reach back thousands of years making corn a delicious treat for communing with our culinary ancestors.