Alissa's corn tortillas...question?

[SparklePlenty]

Now that I know that frozen corn is blanched, I thought about making these with fresh off the cob corn. Anyone know why Alissa specifies frozen corn, and if using fresh would work as well for the tortillas?

TIA
Jan

[Shivananda]

Fresh corn is fine. On her DVD Alissa makes them with fresh.

[Mookie]

Alissa says that fresh corn makes them taste funny.
Not sure why there would be conflicting information on the DVD... I gotta check that out for myself on the DVD as I do not recall it.

I know others like Carmel also stated that the corn should be frozen.

Check out this link from Alissa:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86&highlight=frozen+corn

[Shivananda]

I gotta check that out for myself on the DVD as I do not recall it. How can you not recall it? It is the most terrifying moment on the DVD. She holds the ear of her corn in the palm of one hand while she slices the kernals off with a chef's knife in the other hand. OMG, I was absolutely horrified, waiting for her to slice her thumb off. :eek:

Anyway, as I mentioned elsewhere, SWEET corn should be fine for the purpose, but you just can't find fresh sweet corn everywhere all the time.

But when you do, there is nifty gadget that makes short work of the task of cutting all the kernals off the cob in one quick move. I just found one for $5 at BB&B. But if you do use a knife, hold the ear at one end and cut against a cutting board. Your hand should never, ever, ever be in the path of the cutting blade. :)

[SparklePlenty]

Thanks, Shiv. I'm making them tomorrow. I thought fresh would be fine, just didn't want to end up having to throw them out or anything. And I was thinking about that gadget today, gonna go to BB&B to pick one up. :)

Jan

[Rawkinlocs]

Well, everytime I've ever made them (in the past) with fresh corn, they always turned out bitter tasting. The batter would taste fine, but once dehydrated...not good! I even tried with fresh/frozen corn...same thing. Maybe it is because I needed sweet corn...not sure...but I don't make them often and when I do, I just use bagged organic frozen corn and it works out fine for me everytime.

Please let us know how they turn out for you with the fresh corn!

[Shivananda]

Well, I went duuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh a while after posting before, because... silly me!... you can't get REAL sweet corn now. The kind that's sweet enough to eat raw is only available during hot weather months, and pretty much has to be a local crop because it starts losing sweetness as soon as it is picked and can't be shipped far. The most wonderful kind should actually be eaten the day it is picked.

But in June, when it starts showing up at your farmer's markets, if you want to cut a lot of it for home freezing, the Lee Cutter is famous all over the midwest as the best. This link shows several different models. plus others. http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p14785887-k24-g4-~corn+cutter-nover?sourceid=3

[sweetgoddess]

You will find that frozen corn works better. Yes fresh off the cob is ideal nutrition wise of course, but organic frozen sweet corn works the best and gives the best flavor to these. I used to make and sell these in my raw food store, so can tell you I made many, many batches. They were not the same with fresh corn! That would be why Alissa suggests it - for the best flavor.

Of course, your own tastes and experiences will answer it once and for all, so try both ways!! :)

Warmly~
Carmel

[SparklePlenty]

I'm glad I waited and hadn't made them yet, Carmel. I'll take your word for it and get some organic frozen corn today.

Thanks...and blessings to you and Chris, today and every day.
Love
Jan

[Mookie]

How can you not recall it? It is the most terrifying moment on the DVD. She holds the ear of her corn in the palm of one hand while she slices the kernals off with a chef's knife in the other hand. OMG, I was absolutely horrified, waiting for her to slice her thumb off.

That is tooo funny Shiv! :D

[mbf]

The recipe calls for corn from 6 ears of corn.So how much frozen corn is that ?

anyone?

Thanks

MBF

[vegangelist]

i assume that it is b/c the freezing of the corn changes the texture of the corn, even if it is thawed again.

wonder if it would work with organic corn that i shaved off (when it was in season) and froze myself? any thoughts?

Kristi

[Crystl-jade]

I think the blanching takes away the bitter taste. So, if you want to, you can freeze your own, but unless the corn has been blanched, no good. IMO. :)


Crystl-jade

[Shivananda]

I'll take your word for it and get some organic frozen corn today. OK, this puzzled me, since I haven't experienced this issue, so I researched it a little more. It turns out that corn is unique in that it cannot be successfully frozen and stored without being cooked because it contains a particular enzyme that quickly degrades the corn in the freezer. So all commercial frozen corn, organic or not, is blanched (quickly cooked) in boiling water before freezing, to deactivate that enzyme.

Deactivating that enzyme also brings out the natural sweetness of the corn, which is why cooked corn always tastes sweeter than raw. And apparently dehydrating fresh corn to a semi-dry state (as in this tortilla recipe) does not raise the food temperature high enough to break down that enzyme. So now you know.

But when real sweet corn comes available, I'm checking it out. Because it IS sweet enough to eat raw, right off the cob. But you can only get it for a couple of months out of the year.

[sweetgoddess]

Thank you Jan! I appreciate that.
And on the corn issue, it all comes down to personal choice. Some people want to be complete purists and some do not . No right or wrong here just personal choice. :)