After many years of hearing about 'rotten corn' a Maori delicacy, I finally got a taste of what it was all about. It's reputation definitely precedes it before you see it and I mean the smell is quite pungent i.e. the term "rotten" but in actual fact, I think it's more about being 'fermented' perhaps much like the 'hops' that are used for making beer.
It all happened because we were had a team farewell of a member leaving us for further studies in the 'Matauranga Maori' team (Maori knowledge/worldviews) that I'm a part of on campus and one of our lecturers/tutors brought along a batch for our shared lunch.
I wondered what that pungent smell was until it finally connected with me that it was the rotten corn. I think they kind of dared for me to eat it and because I absolutely love corn as one of my fave vegetables, I was definitely game to give it a go and I must say that it took me to the next level.
I was encouraged to eat it along with a pinch of raw sugar and cream and was told that it was normally eaten similarly to porridge (the kernels). It tastes a bit bland but when you add the other ingredients, it definitely would make a nice porridge (although I'm not a big fan of porridge).
So if you even get a chance to try some, don't be put off by the smell but as they say, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" I'd say "you can't judge rotten corn by it's smell." Anyway, if I've tasted sea cucumbers, sea urchins, oysters, muscles, pipis etc. as indigenous delicacies to Samoa and NZ then 'rotten corn' isn't so far off...
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