We grow two varieties of sweet corn for the restaurants and the farmers’ market, a variety called Silver Queen that Eric and Jill grew up with in Maryland and Virginia and Bonus, which gives us ridiculously sweet baby corn, and then it also gives us large ears of traditional sweet corn — the very apotheosis of “win-win.” But we grow corn for polenta, too, a type that produces much larger kernels, which we dry on the stalk and eventually grind into meal for the polenta in Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare. And we also nurture something awfully rare in Boulder County — huitlacoche, also known as the Mexican corn truffle. It’s a corn fungus prized as a delicacy in Mexico and increasingly in restaurants and home kitchens around the United States. Every once in awhile, some of the huitlacoche makes it to the Market, but most is reserved for the restaurants.
Boulder County isn’t the heart of corn country — you’ve got to head east to Iowa and Nebraska for the center of the bullseye. But we certainly are somewhere on the target; corn grows exceptionally well up and down the county, as well as the Front Range in general. We love corn’s versatility. It adds an earthy sweetness to soups and sauces. It crisps nicely when sauteed, adding a flavor-packed and pleasing crunch to myriad dishes. Our homegrown, organic polenta is one of the most corn-aromatic substances in the world — turn it into cornbread, and it will fill your house (as well as our restaurants) with an arresting, enchanting perfume.
At the Market on Saturday
We hope to see you this weekend at the Market and in the restaurants!
Here’s our Market list:
- Lettuce Varieties
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Kale
- Purple tat soi
- Ruby streak mizuna
- Osaka purple
- Maruba santoh
- Pak Choi
- Hon tsai tai
- Mizuna
- Sorrel
- Carrots
- Beets
- Turnips
- Radishes
- Sweet corn
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Tomatoes
- Eggplant
- Tomatillos
- Peppers
- Potatoes
- Pork cuts
