Adventures of Corn Smut (Huitlacoche): Quesadillas Lucha

My biggest mission besides #winning 4 graduate credits studying abroad in Mexico was eating huitlaoche, a fungus that grows in the corn silk. The disease enters the ovaries of the plant and replaces the normal kernels of the corn with large distorted black tumors of pure sporage awesomeness. The Aztecs originally ate huitlacoche and it's considered a delicacy in Mexico. One of the most common ways to eat the fungus is in a quesadilla.




I didn't see too many places in Guadalajara for huitlaoche quesadillas, but they were all over the place in Mexico City. One of my travel compadres had a local Mexico City-ian friend who we spent the day with. I immediately started pestering her for corn smut advice and she knew the perfect place to go - an inside street food market in the bowels of Coyocan. The corn smut was happening all over this joint. Despite its bold appearance, huitlacoche has a rather delicate, mildly earthy taste. Delicious!




They are serious about their flor de calabaza, or squash blossoms in Mexico. After being seduced days prior by an amazing creamy flor de calabaza soup, a blossom quesadilla was necessary. The delicate flavor of the flavor combined with melted Oaxacan cheese equates to pure bliss. 



My friend ordered up a hurache with nopal: a thick corn tortilla "sandal" smothered with refried beans, topped with cactus and cheese.




This joint pumped out fresh sapote con naranja juice. Sapote, a sweet, rich fruit combined with the brightness of orange juice made for the perfect balance of tangy sweet.




And you can find it all in the middle of this enclosed food-grocery-toys-shopping area. Miss you, corn smut!




Quesadillas Lucha
Coyoacan local 323
Mexico City, D.F.