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Old-Fashioned Roasted Corn
Strip all the husks from the ears except the last layer. Make a clean place in front of a wood fire in the ashes; lay the corn on the ashes and turn as fast as one side is done until roasted on all sides. Serve with salt and pepper. It can also be roasted over hot coals on a wire broiler or gridiron, by watching carefully and turning often so that it does not burn. If burned it will be bitter.
This is fire-roasted corn in its plainest form, and the method translates directly to a charcoal grill or a gas burner. The single point of failure is scorching: the recipe says so, and it is right.
- Leave one husk layerThat last layer of husk is what keeps the kernels from charring while they steam in their own moisture. Peel down to a single thin layer, pull off the silk you can reach, and leave the rest.
- Ashes are not embersThe original lays the ears on the ashes in a cleaned spot in front of a wood fire, which is gentler than direct flame. On a charcoal grill, bank the coals to one side and set the corn beside them, not over them.
- Heat and timeOver medium coals allow roughly 15 minutes, turning every few minutes so no side sits still for long. The husk will blacken in patches; that is expected.
- Judging donenessPeel back a strip and press a kernel. It should give and release milky juice. Kernels that have gone dull and dented have cooked too long.
- Why burning turns it bitterCorn is high in sugar, and sugar past caramelisation turns acrid rather than sweet. Scorched kernels cannot be rescued, so err toward turning too often.
- Freshness matters more than techniqueCorn sugars convert to starch after picking, quickly in warm weather. Modern supersweet varieties are bred to hold their sugar longer than older sweet-corn varieties, but same-day corn still roasts best.
- ServingOne or two ears per person. Butter is not mentioned here, only salt and pepper, which suits smoky corn better than most people expect.