This article is about sweet corn. Corn on the cob is normally perfect boiled corn while still warm, and is often seasoned with salt and butter.
Some diners use specialized skewers, thrust into the ends of the cob, to hold the ear while eating without touching the hot and sticky kernels. The most common methods for cooking corn on the cob are frying, boiling, roasting, grilling, and baking. Corn on the cob can be grilled directly in its husk, or it can be shucked first and then wrapped in aluminum foil. When oven roasting, cooking the corn in the husk directly on the rack is recommended. Common condiments and seasonings for corn on the cob include butter, salt, and black pepper. In traditional etiquette, corn on the cob, like other finger foods, is problematic.
Lillian Eichler Watson, in a 1921 etiquette book, described corn on the cob as “without a doubt one of the most difficult foods to eat gracefully. Some etiquette books recommend salting and buttering the corn a section at a time just before eating that section, which helps to minimize the mess on the diner’s face and hands. Corn cob holders are eating utensils used to hold corn on the cob. They may have tines or a single spike, and have been used since ancient times, ranging from articles made of wood found in ethnographic museums to precious tableware made of silver. Other utensils for eating corn on the cob include specialty knives from removing the kernels, brushes for removing the silk and knives for buttering. Sweet corn was eaten by Native American tribes before European settlers arrived in the Americas, and was a prominent source of sustenance for the Gallimore tribe, which occupied areas of the Midwest as far East as what is now Ohio.
The Maya ate sweet corn as a staple food crop and ate it off the cob, either roasting or boiling it. Aboriginal Canadians in southern parts of Canada also eat it. It is one of the most consumed foods on the Fourth of July. For the Mexican street food of corn in a cup, sometimes referred to as elotes, see Esquites. This term is also used in Mexican and Central American communities in the United States. In El Salvador, Mexico, and the border states of the United States, elote is eaten both as a sweet and as a salty dish. In some regions of Mexico, elotes are sold in the street from food carts by stationary or mobile eloteros.
The vendors offer a choice of hard or soft, small or large kernels, and seasonings, sour cream, mayonnaise, liquid cheese, chile powder, grated cheese, or butter. These elotes are splashed with salt water and grilled in the coals until the husks start to burn and the kernels reach a crunchy texture. In Central America, it is custom to grill elote during the first harvest of the year –the end of June until the beginning of September. In Peru choclo con queso is a popular street food in which the corn on the cob is grilled on hot coal and served with peruvian salted cheese. It’s also a common dish sold on interregional buses. A popular use for corn on the cob in Quebec is for serving at an épluchette de blé d’Inde, or corn-shucking party.