Edible Centerpiece: Is It Possible To Eat Indian Corn?

I bought this bunch of corn below the other day at the market and the vendor told me I couldn't eat it. Because, he said, "it wasn't grown to be eaten." So I politely asked if it had been treated with anything, (it wasn't) and silently vowed to prove him wrong.

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I knew this wasn't your run-of-the-mill (pun intended) food grade corn, but I also knew it had the essential components that all other corn has (hull, hard starch, soft starch, endosperm, germ, etc.) . So I figured maybe I could apply some simple methods and see what I came up with. I was pretty sure I could make something edible, but I wasn't sure how pleasant it would be to eat.

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I knew this wasn't your run-of-the-mill (pun intended) food grade corn, but I also knew it had the essential components that all other corn has (hull, hard starch, soft starch, endosperm, germ, etc.) . So I figured maybe I could apply some simple methods and see what I came up with. I was pretty sure I could make something edible, but I wasn't sure how pleasant it would be to eat.

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Comments

[SchrodingersKatz]

12:12 PM on 11/14/2010

I grew Seneca Red Stalker this year. This beautiful corn has red and purple stalks that can used to dye things. The corn picked young is delicious, eaten raw off the cob, even though it matures to look just like Indian Corn, which it is.

I can't get over the deep purple corn husks! Astonishingly gorgeous, useful for crafts.

[patg00]

01:50 PM on 11/12/2010

How did you do the grits? don't you need to soak them in Lye or something?

[Edward Standley]

10:53 PM on 11/10/2010

Love corn. Nothing better that sweet corn roasted in the husk ,drippin' with butter! (Homer drool).

[mind mesh]

01:59 AM on 11/11/2010

wheres a 'like' button when you need one :D

[Ozark Homesteader]

10:40 PM on 11/10/2010

Decorative corn is usually dent corn, perfect for drying and grinding into meal, so I'm not surprised about how your experiment went!
http://ozarkhomesteader.wordpress.com/

[New Ideas]

01:42 PM on 11/10/2010

You can't eat Indian corn? I wonder what the hundred million Ameridians who lived in North America before Columbus used to eat, then?

[tmaxPA]

05:04 PM on 11/10/2010

That's goofy. "Indian corn" has nothing particularly to do with Indians.

[Ozark Homesteader]

10:39 PM on 11/10/2010

Well of course it does! From where do you think corn comes? The versions bred in recent years are from the original versions that originated in the Americas but tend to be sweeter varieties.

[RastaPunx]

01:14 PM on 11/10/2010

With enough boiling and grinding, ANYTHING is edible!

[wm1066]

11:47 AM on 11/10/2010

I remember here in Minnesota you could get popcorn from indian corn, it had a very festive look to it with the different colors. I know you can still get black popcorn, BTW its just the kernels that are colored, the inside is still white. For me their was no taste difference between this and regular popcorn.

[camanokat]

03:08 AM on 11/10/2010

Thanks for the tip...LOL about Mischief Night...I've not encountered that on the Left Coast, and I've lived from Orange County and Los Angeles CA to Camano Island WA.

[Exene]

01:57 PM on 11/10/2010

We used to call it Devil's Night in the midwest.

[elcerritan]

01:37 AM on 11/10/2010

I can't imagine why anyone is surprised that you can cook with "Indian corn." People have gotten WAY too removed from their food nowadays.

[SpikeC]

09:25 PM on 11/09/2010

If the native americans could eat this type of corn why can't we?

[Progress08]

10:53 AM on 11/10/2010

In a world of Martha Stewarts we've lost our homesteading knowledge.

[elcerritan]

12:54 PM on 11/10/2010

Thank goodness for Mother Earth News! (Actually, Martha Stewart isn't bad either, although a lot more chi-chi.)

[tmaxPA]

05:09 PM on 11/10/2010

I can't believe all these people think it's called "Indian corn" for some actual reason. No, that's just what we call the kind grown for decorative purposes. The maize that Native Americans ate wasn't any more or less like any other kind of corn we eat today. I bet if people knew how much what we call corn has changed in the last three hundred years, the top of their heads would explode.

[camanokat]

06:44 PM on 11/09/2010

Hoe did you remove the kernels? It looks like it would be a chore.

[elcerritan]

01:34 AM on 11/10/2010

You just rub them off the cob. It's no big deal. When I was a kid, we used to take ears of dried corn and rub the kernels off and so we could throw it at people's windows (among other pranks) on "Mischief Night", which was the night before Halloween. The corn would make a noise but it didn't do any damage - it wasn't like throwing stones. I don't know how widespread the Mischief Night custom was. Maybe it was just an East Coast thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_night

[camanokat]

03:10 AM on 11/10/2010

Thanks for the tip...LOL about Mischief Night...I've not encountered that on the Left Coast, and I've lived from Orange County and Los Angeles CA to Camano Island WA.

[catsanon]

05:23 PM on 11/10/2010

The method I've always used is to grasp the ear with both hands (either like a baseball bat, or with thumbs side-by-side) and twist each hand in the opposite direction. If the kernels are completely dry, they will pop off, some more easily than others. If you're shelling more than a couple of ears, I'd suggest wearing gloves.