Name: Smoky Black Bean and Huitlacoche Soup
Yield: 4 Servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 12 ounces dried organic black beans; ¼ cup rendered bacon fat; ½ teaspoon dried epazote; ¼ cup chopped fresh or canned huitlacoche; ½ cup diced carrots; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 6 cups chicken stock or water; ½ cup crema or sour cream (optional); ½ teaspoon thinly sliced green jalapeño pepper; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon minced red jalapeño pepper; 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro; ½ cup diced avocado; 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice; 2 teaspoons salt; ½ teaspoon ground coriander; 1 fresh California bay leaf or dried bay leaf; 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano; 1½ cups diced sweet onions; ¼ cup chopped garlic; 2 tablespoons chipotle adobo

Preparation info

4
Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Fantastic Fungi

By Eugenia Bone

Published 2022

About

I learned about huitlacoche when I lived along the Colorado River and a corn farmer who was half Hopi, half Latino turned me on to this pathogen of corn. For him, it was a good problem to have. The fungus, which forms tumors or galls on the ears, has a unique flavor that is at once mushroom and corn. In the past few years, I have seen local corn farmers here in Oregon selling ears infected with the fungus. For some people, huitlacoche is a luxury ingredient—it’s known as the truffle