This morning I had a session of Spanish conversation practice with a young indigenous woman from Guatemala, Zelaida Guox. She is currently going to school to become a teacher. She had on a pair earrings that were small plastic corn cobs, maize – corn – being very important in the cultures of Mexico and Central America.
We talked about her earrings for a bit, then she asked me if we eat corn here. Claro que sí, señorita… But of course we do, corn on the cob being a very typical food of summer. I then went on to describe how we tend to soak our corn on the cob in butter. She thought this a little strange. She then described how they commonly eat corn on the cob in Guatemala. One way is that they squeeze lemon juice, followed by salt, followed by squeezing lime juice on the cob. Or they put ketchup (salsa dulce) on their corn on the cob or sometimes mayonnaise. I had heard the mayonnaise addition before, and I am betting it is very good.
Something different to try next time you have one of the emblematic foods of summer.
And so it goes.