At around this time of year we start to see a LOT of sweetcorn in the shops. A great deal of the stuff is grown locally so there’s no wonder the supermarkets are stuffed with it. It is really cheap too. In our local supermarket they display the sweetcorn in its husks in something that looks a bit like a large, raised sandpit. This area is usually packed with people who are busy removing the husks and those silky, stringy bits and putting the discarded bits into little bins that are there just for that purpose. People will stand there for ages removing every last piece of husk from mountains of corn.
I think that’s odd. Why? Because everything else that people buy is overwrapped in one way or another. Just look at toothpaste which comes in a tube, in a box, wrapped in cellophane. I know that even 20 years ago it was completely acceptable in German supermarkets to leave unwanted packaging at the shop, but in the US people still seem to like the many layers of wrapping. I’m not a big fan – it makes everything a bit like pass the parcel.
So when there are no issues with the packing on most things – what on Earth is wrong with sweetcorn husks? Personally I like having the husks as they are perfect to BBQ the corn in – I just peel it all back, remove the strings, add some butter and put it all back togethter. Yum.