Local food spotlight – Mirai Sweet Corn from Twin Garden Farms

Not all corn is created equal, unfortunately. That tasteless stuff we can get in the winter from the grocery store will never measure up to the corn that’s in season from the grocery store in summer. And even better than that is local, fresh, seasonal corn from the farmers market or from our own gardens.

I found some that tops all of those, at least in my opinion, and that’s Mirai (mee-rye) Sweet Corn from Twin Garden Farms. I bought a bag of 6 ears at the Forest Park Farmers Market this past Friday, unsure of the promises that it would be the best I’d ever had but willing to try it. So good you can eat it raw, they say. Well, I have to admit I didn’t test that theory, but I did see lots of kids doing just that. Instead, we took it home to cook. We buttered it, added salt, pepper and herbs, and steamed it in foil. 10 minutes at 375 deg F, then flip for another 10 minutes.

One word: YUM. Okay, maybe two. Really yum. I’m usually skeptical of such bold advertising because so often it doesn’t pan out in the final product, but they advertise so confidently because in this case, it’s true. It’s genuinely sweet without what they that starchy flavor. I didn’t even realize what they meant until I had some and noted that indeed there was no starchy flavor. The texture is excellent as well. Even better, they’re from Harvard, IL, and they’ll ship you that corn while supplies last, or some seeds if you’d like to grow it yourself. Their sign seemed to indicate that the season wasn’t going to last much longer, so I don’t know if there will be any this coming market in Forest Park. However, they sell at over 80 other markets in Illinois, including the Oak Park Mid-week Market on Wednesday evenings from 4-9pm.

So go forth, and obtain some Mirai corn. You won’t regret it. We’re lucky to have it so close.