"Roasted corn leaves"?

[Nyckname]

From The Writings of Benjamin Franklin:

"Prey let me, an American, inform the gentleman, who seems ignorant of the matter, that Indian corn, take it for all in all, is one of the most agreeable and wholesome grains in the world; that its green leaves roasted are a delicacy beyond expression;..."

http://tiny.cc/sx8oiz

My Google Fu is failing me. Does anyone know how the leaves were prepared?

 

[Einsiedler]

I remember President Ford tryin’ to eat a tamale without removing the shuck. But that’s about it.

 

[Nyckname]

I remember President Ford tryin’ to eat a tamale without removing the shuck. But that’s about it.

Just speculating here, but I don't think the husks and the leaves are the same.

 

[Einsiedler]

Regardless, neither sounds too appetizing.

Except tamales.

Tamales rock. Especially home made tamales.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Just speculating here, but I don't think the husks and the leaves are the same.

Well today..., the husk are the leaves surrounding the ear, and the leaves are from the actual stalk. Whether or not Franklin understood the difference is very questionable since the husks or the leaves may both be used to wrap food for preparation, neither are per se consumed. The food is unwrapped, though if you do consume them after cooking they merely are a source of fiber. Franklin may have been referring to the practice of roasting ears of corn in the husk, since he is rebutting a letter in a paper talking about the use of Indian corn.

LD

 

[Einsiedler]

“Franklin may have been referring to the practice of roasting ears of corn in the husk,”

Yup! Way we always did it. Sometimes if we had time, we soak ‘em in water for a bit before throwin’ em on the fire.

 

[Ames]

Nothin beats sweet corn charred in a fire. Shhhhh.
Secret ingredient I've used to win three chowder cook-offs in a row!

 

[Einsiedler]

Thought about getting me a pkg of corn husk tamale wrappins (there in season now) and try scraping em thin to fabricate some of them Taos cigaritos. Gasp! Yeah to smoke. Sorry nyckname. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread.

 

[Carbon 6]

“Franklin may have been referring to the practice of roasting ears of corn in the husk,”

Yup! Way we always did it. Sometimes if we had time, we soak ‘em in water for a bit before throwin’ em on the fire.

That's my guess.

Corn roasted in the husk over coals is the best way to cook it, it you can get the ears to slightly caramelize (brown) it's like eating candy.

 

[Treestalker]

We as young'uns used to pull the shucks down off the ear, pull off all the silks, rub the corn with about a handful of butter, re-wrap the shucks up around the ear, and bury them in the ashes on the edge of the campfire covered with live coals. Man oh man. Howl at the moon good.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

From The Writings of Benjamin Franklin:

"Prey let me, an American, inform the gentleman, who seems ignorant of the matter, that Indian corn, take it for all in all, is one of the most agreeable and wholesome grains in the world; that its green leaves roasted are a delicacy beyond expression;..."

http://tiny.cc/sx8oiz

My Google Fu is failing me. Does anyone know how the leaves were prepared?

If we add the word "in" it makes perfect sense. Roasted ears in the husk ...."that In its green leaves roasted are a delicacy beyond expression;..."

 

[Carbon 6]

If we add the word "in" it makes perfect sense. Roasted ears in the husk ...."that In its green leaves roasted are a delicacy beyond expression;..."

I strongly suggest it was a typo.

 

[Nyckname]

That's starting to sound like the most logical explanation.

At least I was remembered about Gerald Ford.

 

[Gun Tramp]

I suggest he was calling the unripe (green) ears "leaves."

 

[tenngun]

? In Chinese food the little baby cobs are eaten cob and all. The inner husk are sweet, but fiberus . I wonder if small cobs and a bit of husk was eaten together?
In the old day one cob per plant was common. Baby corn cost you an adult cob in the fall. Corn was often grown in a hill of three, I wonder if they ‘thinned’ a hill and took some baby corn.
But beans were often planted in same hill, it might be hard to thin out one stock without hurting your baby beans.????

 

[Nyckname]

In Chinese food the little baby cobs are eaten cob and all.

Yeah. I make a big pot of hot and sour soup every six weeks or so. The baby corn is a featured ingredient.

 

[Einsiedler]

Yeah. I make a big pot of hot and sour soup every six weeks or so. The baby corn is a featured ingredient.

When I was young I always thought that was one of the main causes of starvation in China. They didn’t let the corn mature before they ate it!

 

[Kansas Jake]

I wonder if they are referring to leaves on a young plant or new leaf shoots on a growing plant. They might be tender and have a good sweet taste. Any leaf beyond a new shoot would tend to be tough.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Even as it sprouts from the ground the plant is an indigestible member of the grass family. One way or another, old Ben must have been referring to what we now call ears. In the vernacular of the day, the initial phase of ripening was calling "green corn" because the primary food use came after drying. Many Native American groups still hold an annual green corn festival or ceremony.

 

[Carbon 6]

? In Chinese food the little baby cobs are eaten cob and all.

Not just the Chinese. My mother ate them that way when she was young and taught me the same when I was young. 2-3" long they are sweet and tender when boiled.
We use to eat young field corn too. Slather it with butter and you couldn't tell the difference twixt it and sweet corn.