nosh nook #109 - thursday, august 13, 2009

latin corn snack in midst of a makeover (link)
08.12.09 - chicago sun-times - by lisa donovan

here in brooklyn, there are a ton of latin street vendors scattered around the borough. the ones i'm most familiar with are near the parks--prospect park, sunset park, the red hook ballfield--and they're out hawking roasted corn & icees & churros to passers-by. of course, other cities have their fair share as well. in chicago, the big thing for latin street vendors is something called elote. what the f is "elote," you say? that's a damn good question. at first, i had no idea what it was. in fact, neither did the puerto rican/dominican guy i share an office with. isn't that latin?

according to the chicago sun times' lisa donovan, elote is some sort of "dressed-up and delightfully messed-up corn-on-the-cob snack." apparently you can pull down the husk to form a handle & eat it like a popsicle or cut off all the corn like a wuss & eat it out of a bowl like you're at KFC or something. you've been able to get it at white sox games for ten years now in bowl form & this summer "a few local chefs have re-invented the traditional mexican street food." at their brewpub, goose island (official beer of the pitchfork festival) serves a "blanched corn (that) is tossed on the grill with a bit of butter and dressed with cilantro-lime aioli, cotija cheese, smoked spanish paprika and a lime wedge on the side." fancy!

john manion (goose island's chef) has created a recipe that pays "tribute to the wicker park and ukrainian village neighborhoods circa 1995," specifically "the stretch of ashland avenue between division and north," which he & friends have dubbed "corn cob alley." corn cob alley! anyway, it's a corn snack that i pretty much have to try now. luckily, i've discovered (after some quick internet research) that there's a place in williamsburg right near the lorimer stop that's called "elote." you bet your ass they have it on the menu. maybe i could get some closer to my apartment & maybe i could even get it from one of those vendors i've seen selling roasted corn. they don't have a website or a back garden though, so they lose.