Chilli con corn

Credit where it’s due – The Weather Man invented this dish. That’s also so I can disclaim ownership if necessary. But since it’s really good, there will be no such need I think.

Anything chilli

For a very long time I’d thought chilli was only of one kind: con carne. I thought the addition was perfunctory at most, a bit like ‘tomato ketchup’ or ‘beef steak’. I have obviously since learned that there are many kinds of steak and indeed ketchup (mushroom ketchup for instance).

Chilli is quite like curry: ingredients vary, only the base of, respectively, chilli peppers and curry paste remains constant. So now I know that it isn’t only minced beef that goes in there with hot peppers: there is chicken chilli, pork chilli, white chilli and green chilli, chilli with ground or chunked meat, with no beans or tomatoes (Texan!) and indeed with just beans and tomatoes.

Technically, I (or TWM) probably shouldn’t call it ‘chilli’. It is a spicy dish of fresh sweetcorn cooked with beans, onions and tomatoes. But hey! something cooked with beans, tomatoes (we’re not in Texas, Toto) and onions is surely chilli! Plus we could not resist the sound of the phrase: ‘chilli con corn’.

Fresh or tinned sweetcorn?

The answer is easy: whenever possible, use fresh corn. Freshly shucked ears (they are called ears of corn) dripping with milk (it’s called milk), kernels (they are called kernels) almost popping out without cooking, silk (it’s called silk) making a mess all over the floor and the husk (it’s called – well, you know already) taking up all the space in your compost caddy.

The difference between that and a tin of Green Giant, even ‘with no sugar added’ is like between a wagyu burger and McDonalds. Except the price because corn on the cob is really cheap in season.

Even those idiotically called ‘cobettes’ that supermarkets sell will do in season. It’s puzzling, a bit like why would you buy cooked beetroot if it’s as easy to bake at home as carrot or potato? They think they are doing you a favour by shucking the corn and cleaning it neatly off all the pesky silk but it’s the opposite. Would you buy peeled apples, unless in a fruit salad? Or skinned bananas? So there you go.

Frozen sweetcorn kernels are the second best because they will have been frozen immediately after being shucked and collected when ripest and most plentiful. I say, save your tins for tuna and mayo.

How do you make chilli con corn?

Very easily. As Mexicans know well and contrary to what we think in the UK, sweetcorn cooks quickly and easily. Boiling ears of corn for hours is unnecessary and wrong; the kernels will cook through even when you sear whole cobs on hot griddle or barbecue.

In this recipe it takes five minutes in a little butter and we’re done – next the chilli stuff comes into the pan. Onions, garlic, chilli, seasoning, beans plus a few secret ingredients that make the chilli divine: a little ketchup, a spoonful of honey and some instant coffee. That’s right, a teaspoon of coffee granules and your chilli is to die for.

How to serve chilli con corn?

You can serve it exactly like you would an ordinary chilli: with a jacket potato, a mound of plain rice, baked sweet potato, warm tortillas or nachos. I like it best on a fluffy baked potato, with a sprinkling of sharp cheddar on top and some healthy, no-mayo coleslaw. What’s your preference?