corn lovers consider them too sweet, their
flavor one-dimensional.
Preparing Corn While we usually prepare and
consume the kernels whole, most of the flavor
comes from the inner tissues, so some cooks
grate, blend, or juice the raw kernels and
separate the fluids from the seed coats, which
get increasingly thick and tough with age.
Because the fluids contain some starch, they
will thicken like a sauce if heated above about
150ºF/65ºC. Heating also intensifies the
characteristic aroma of corn, which is largely
due to dimethyl and hydrogen sulfides and
other sulfur volatiles (methane-and
ethanethiols). Dimethyl sulfide is also
prominent in the aroma of cooked milk and
molluscs, which is one reason why corn works
so well in chowders. Sweet corn is also dried,
which gives it a toasted, light caramel note.
The hard, inedible support structure called the
cob can lend flavor to vegetable stocks; that