One thing I really like about this time of year is all the fresh food that becomes available as we move through the season. It adds to the summer, with all the fresh, delicious food and the anticipation of what comes next.
It’s coming on corn season, and although you can get corn on the cob pretty much all year round, there’s just something about fresh, local corn.
This morning I happened to see a picture on Facebook that I believe was from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. It was a man who was in a corn on the cob eating contest and he had what I considered to be an unusual corn eating style. He was pictured essentially cramming a cob of corn into his mouth, end first. The caption mentioned that he finished off eighteen ears of corn, cobs and all, to win the contest.
I couldn’t help but stare at the picture. He ate them cobs and all?
From a competitive eating strategy, it probably makes sense. That’s no time to carefully nibble all the little bits of corn from the cob. There are probably rules about how much corn you can leave on the cob and have it still classed as being eaten. But not for this guy. He eats the whole thing. It is probably quicker. Although he must have a pretty healthy digestive system.
The cob would be edible. I have taken the odd bite myself while eating corn. My dog has chewed up the odd cob with no bad effects. So it can be done. But it’s not the way I’d eat corn.
I like to move up and down the cob, chewing off three or four rows at a time. I know others who will go around the cob, eating their way around before moving down to the next spot. But eating the whole thing is not a strategy I would have considered.
But it worked.