However, when the United States officially announced the elimination of corn smut, Mexican farmers were spreading the spores of smut fungi everywhere in the fields.
They wandered around the Yucatan Peninsula at noon in the Central South Plateau and at sunset, watching the corn covered with fungi wither gradually in the Puebla Valley, and then selling these frightening lesions in the market next month.
These fungi are called "corn truffles" by Mexicans and are traditional local ingredients.
In the eyes of Mexicans, this is almost as common as eating mushrooms, Flammulina velutipes and termites.
"This thing looks like a corn soldier attacked by a face-hugging bug, or a zerg carpet in StarCraft."
An American food blogger wrote this on his blog.
Even if it looks bad, Mexicans still have great enthusiasm for corn truffles-these fungi are often used to make all kinds of food.
In the early morning in Mexico City, drug dealers and police will be in the same shop, eating the same corn truffle sandwich, and then fighting in the same block five hours later.
In the market, corn truffles can be sold for 50 to 100 pesos per kilogram. In order to prove the freshness of his goods, the shopkeeper will take out a handful from time to time and put it in his mouth. This is no different from selling strawberries and mangosteen.
Corn truffles are often made into candied cans to ensure that diners can smell the fragrance of spores at the moment they open the cans.
As convenient as an old godmother, scoop a spoonful and spread it on the bread, and tomorrow is another day.