Humitas

At a small Buenos Aires restaurant called Na Serapia, I ordered a dish I had never seen on a menu before: humita.  My plate arrived with a small square package of folded cornhusks, filled with creamed corn and tied together with a string of husk.  Naturally, I knew I'd be making a version back at home.  Humitas are South American steamed corn cakes, created with fresh corn, cheese, and spices.  

*Just as a side note, the owner of Na Serapia is one quirky and cool dude.  This portrait of him hangs on the wall behind one of the tables, and in fact, the MALBA now keeps it in their permanent collection.  He's a hole-in-the-wall, pun intended, Buenos Aires celebrity of sorts.

Aside from the blanching and folding of the cornhusks, the corn cakes themselves are pretty easy to make.  I added a few ingredients of my own and steamed them in a roasting pan.  They're delicious for dinner on their own, as an appetizer, or to accompany a juicy steak.  They're also the perfect addition to any autumn menu.

In South America, these are often made with choclo, a large-kerneled corn from the Andes.  While I can't provide you with ears of corn that are out of the current reach of my American hands, I can give you an Andean song.  Here is Violeta Parra's extraordinary "Gracias a la vida."

Ingredients:
--6 ears of corn
--1/3 c. half and half
--1 c. cornmeal
--2 red peppers, chopped
--2 cloves garlic, slices thinly
--1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
--2 tbsp. olive oil
--2 eggs
--2 c. shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but if you have a crumbly queso, I think that'd be delicious)
--1 tsp. coriander
--a few pinches of salt and pepper

In a medium-sized saucepan, saute the garlic and onions for about 3-4 minutes in the olive oil until they're getting soft.  Add the red peppers and saute until everything is soft and aromatic.  Set aside and allow to cool just a bit.

Husk the ears of corn, being very careful to preserve the husks--you're going to be using them as casings for the corn cakes.  Set the husks aside.  Using a large knife, cut the kernels from the corn and place them in a large food processor.  Don't pulse yet!

To the kernels in the food processor, add the garlic/onion/pepper mixture, the half and half, cornmeal shredded cheese, eggs, coriander, and the salt and pepper (in other words, all remaining ingredients).  Pulse for about a minute, or until all ingredients are finely ground and combined.  Set aside.

Now, the next part gets a little tricky.  Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add the corn husks and boil for about 5-7 minutes, or until they're soft and pliable.  Drain the pot and place the husks in a bowl of ice water.

Using 3 or 4 husks as a base, line them up on a workspace, and then add 3 or 4 more in a cross pattern on top.  In short, you're creating a liner/pocket to fill with the corn cake mixture.  This picture should help:

Next, fill the layer of cornhusks with about 1/2 c. of the corn mixture.

Then, fold up the edges so you've got a small packet, and tie a piece of a cornhusk around the packet to keep its shape.

Repeat with all remaining husks and remaining corn mixture.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and fill the bottom of a roasting pan with about 1/2" water.  Place the roasting rack in the dish, and place the corn packets on top of the roasting rack (you want to steam them in the oven).

Place the roasting dish in the oven and steam/bake for approximately 40 minutes, or just until the edges of the husks begin to turn a golden color.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Serve in a dish.  When you unwrap them, you'll find a delicious and perfectly steamed corn cake.

And as with everything else from South America, it seems, humitas go very nicely with a glass of Torrontes.