Coming Soon - Elotes Locos Redux

A friend of mine told me about the glory of what is called Elotes Locos. The way it was described to me is that it is an ear of corn (sweet or field) smothered in ketchup, mayonnaise, Tabasco or any hot sauce, mustard and then is covered in Parmesean cheese....on a stick. As if the fact that it is on a stick makes it better. It's a common fair food in Central America and to this gal, utterly frightening. I think I would have reacted better if he told me that it was fried bats smothered with marmalade...on a stick. It goes against everything I stand for food wise. It's weird, it's messy and it has mayonnaise in places mayonnaise shouldn't be. (On your shirt mostly.) In my twisted little world, ketchup and mayonnaise shouldn't even be in the same room with each other. I once went on a blind date and the gentleman mixed mayo and ketchup together and I walked out. True story.

So not only am I a picky eater, I also don't like to eat messy food. I always take the kernels off corn and never hear fruit out of hand. I cut it up first. I use a knife and fork with ribs and I know, I'm completely crackers. I've come to terms with this. Then I thought about it. I like mayonnaise but only use it in the sphere of salads. I was then thinking though how good would corn be with mayo and now I am obsessed and I must be brave. So I tried it. It was sort of like when you have to give yourself a shot, it took hours but finally I showed some corn to to some mayo and it was super tasty but Elotes Locos it was not.

It has now become my mission to come up with a recipe that captures the essence of this regional (frightening) food but that is diet friendly, me friendly and goddammit easier to eat. I'm working on it but for now here is a recipe for the tradtional (weird) recipe for Elotes Locos.

Ingredients - Recipe adapted from http://www.josephwquigley.com

- 4 to 6 ears of field corn (Or Maize. Alternatively, sweet corn may be used.)
- Mustard
- Ketchup
- Mayonnaise
- Tabasco sauce or Picamás-style hot sauce
- Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Directions -

Boil, pressure cook or grill the corn. After it’s cooked remove the husk and string. Apply condiments with a knife, or by squeezing directly from the bottle. Sprinkle cheese on top.

(Photo Credit - http://www.josephwquigley.com)