The corn/ maque choux update

 

In fall I loved the aroma of Indian corn pudding at Luby’s and ears roasting in pits. From cobs at picnics and paprika-dusted corn right out of the can to candy corn, I love it.

Charlene Fortenberry of Port Neches asked if maque choux has a creamy texture and I recall that as my memory. I began an informal poll and several Southeast Texans are saying cream, though my mom pointed out the bowls of my memories are based on the creamed corn that my grandfather grew up with, but more spiced, thanks to my Breaux Bridge-born grandmother.

Foretenberry’s maque choux memories are of no cream, though she says cream makes so many things better.

Donna Roberts read the column and ventured into other corn scenarios. She says in her family, a few corn silk strands went into the pot for flavor.

She also introduced me to Carroll Duhon of Port Acres, who is growing his own popcorn. I left with little bags full of  yellow and caramel varieties and they came out of my air popper amazingly crisp and flavorful. The caramel variety was smallare and harder. I can’t say I detected a caramel flavor, but the corn notes were all there.

My tip: Dress your popcorn in olive oil and red or black pepper for a switch from butter and salt.

Now about the maque choux research… Maybe we should all go to New Orleans and taste what we find there.

Darraghcastillo@icloud.com

What's your story on maque choux? And two get Amuny's

Amuny’s bounty and shedding light on Maque Choux

I went to a meeting where there was going to be Amuny’s sandiwiches, one of my favorite things about Port Arthur. I knew they would be there because I was bringing them to the meeting.

My husband could not attend because he was going to a program elsewhere and had voiced regret he would not be eating those sandwiches.

As I sat down to my plate at my event, he sent me a text, reading “Guess what I’m eating?”

He then sent a photo of a big platter of Amuny’s sandwiches that he was enjoying across town.

Maque choux query for readers

I was concentrating on just-right pistolettes at The Neches River Wheelhouse when Charlene Fortenberry introduced herself and we started talking about maque choux.

I ‘m a big fan of this corn blend and I don’t know why it’s not a part of my life much more often. Fortenberry, who has ties to the old Farm Royale restaurant, suggested I put this topic out to readers as a “curiosity that some of your Cajun-bred readers may be able to shed light on.”

Heres’ what she says: “I grew up eating my mom's maque choux, as I'm sure you did, too. I saw it on the Wheelhouse menu; first time I had ever seen it at a restaurant around here. My two friends had never heard of it (they're not French, bless their hearts, haha) but one of them ordered it and so did I. It was delicious of course, but it had cream in it. Well cream makes everything better, but I had never had it like that before. After discussing it with family and friends, the consensus was that no one else had tasted it like that. So, is that a regional thing or was the chef being creative? This isn't an earth shattering topic, but maybe you can make it into something interesting. Still loving your column, Charlene.  

I’m already interested. So here’s my story. When I went to ask my mom about my beloved creamy corn dish, she said she recalled maque choux in Louisiana as being not creamy, but what I was eating was creamed corn in the “northern” style of my grandfather. Somewhere along the way I was eating what Louisiana relatives combined: creamy corn, seasoning, onions and peppers. I love it, whatever it is called.

Now, readers, please let Ms. Fortenberry and I know your experiences with maque choux, by writing darraghcastillo@icloud.com.

We’ll be waiting to hear from you!