Husker do?
Posted
June 30, 2007 at
10:49 am by
Prescott
OK, let’s move past my incredibly terrible pun and get to the heart of the question…
The 4th of July is coming up, and we here in the States will be celebrating by busting out the grill and eating tons of ribs, encased meats, and beef in various forms. And of course one of the ubiquitous side dishes is corn on the cob. I was at the grocery this morning buying my mandated 6 ears ($.10 each, yea!), and I had to elbow my way through the crowd standing around husking (shouldn’t it be “de-husking”?) their picks right in the middle of the produce section, tossing the husks about and getting corn silk all over the floor.
Is this a recent phenomenon? I just noticed it a few years ago, when the store near us put up signs asking people to PLEASE DO NOT HUSK CORN IN STORE. The sign went ignored so they finally said fuck it and put out a big garbage can. Which shoppers managed to deposit husks into about as efficiently as my 4 year old deposits clothes in the hamper.
Why? Why do people do this? I’m usually trying to get through my shopping as fast as humanly possible, I certainly am not going to be standing around doing dinner prep. Are they checking to see if the corn is any good? Pulling back a tiny bit of husk usually takes care of that, not to mention the fact that I think I’ve bought one “bad” ear of corn out of 300 — and at a dime a piece I like to live a little and get a few extras just in case.
Any of you huskers out there, can you enlighten me?
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6 Responses to “Husker do?”
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1. Petulant Pixie said:
June 30, 2007 @ 4:31 pm | Quote
I thought it was just here that people did that. I only noticed it in this area, and they’ve done it here for as long as we’ve lived here (5 summers now). And, yeah, they have big garbage cans and people stand there and husk their corn before buying it. I have bought a few “funky” ears over the years, but yeah, it’s easy to compensate at ten cents an ear (just buy a few extra!). I don’t get it.
But, I became suspicious of the cheap corn because I don’t understand how corn is ten cents an ear the end of June. Where is this corn from? Because like, I live in corn central and I SEE that the corn (for miles and miles, east, west, north, and south of my immediate space) isn’t near harvest-ready yet. Corn here is harvested towards the end of summer, early fall, and that’s when I buy it in season at the Farmer’s Market. Is that different corn? I don’t understand!!!!
2. Kristen said:
June 30, 2007 @ 10:03 pm | Quote
I nearly fell over when I saw it in MS. First time I’d ever seen anyone husk their corn IN the store.
I could never partake. It just seemed a little bit odd.
Reasoning (I’ve heard):
1) The mess
2) They pick the good ones…
3. Prescott said:
June 30, 2007 @ 11:11 pm | Quote
I just ran across the receipt on the counter and they were actually .29, not .10, BUT STILL.
As for the early season corn, a quick google search would indicate that more corn production is going on in Georgia nowadays, and they are able to plant/harvest earlier. But I’m a city boy so what the hell do I know.
4. Petulant Pixie said:
July 1, 2007 @ 8:10 am | Quote
Yeah, right after posting that, I Googled it too, and found that southern corn is planted earlier and therefore harvested earlier than the corn here on the Canadian border (April first, we were still waist deep in snow!). So, there ya go. Guess it’s not suspicious afterall. But, I’ll still bring mine home to husk.
5. Beta Mum said:
July 1, 2007 @ 4:47 pm | Quote
Perhaps it’s a form of direct action, but a little misguided.
They should be taking off all the unnecessary plastic packaging and leaving it in the shop. Corn husks are biodegradable.
Corn on the cob in Britain is about ten times more expensive than that…
6. Jonathan said:
July 12, 2007 @ 10:13 am | Quote
I guess it saves the mess of having to do it at home. But here is why I don’t husk at the store.
1. I want out of the store as fast as possible, husking adds more time.
2. (Most Importantly) The sugars in corn start breaking down the moment it is picked from the stalk. The longer you wait to eat it the less sweet it is. Keeping the husk on the corn helps to slow the process down and keep in the sweetness. Since, stores are purchasing the corn from further away the process is already well under way. I am willing to purchase a couple of less than desirable ears if it means the rest of them taste better.