Growing up in New Jersey, August was the month of huge, sweet silver queen ears dripping butter. Here, it is a little too humid for good corn. The varieties that grow here are good for eating ONLY when very young. After that, they are starchy and mostly tasteless, compared to the corn of my youth. Good for grinding into masa (flour) for tortillas and tamales…or feeding livestock. My chickens love it.
The exception is the chorreada. A national favorite, it is a somewhat dry, large pancake of – you guessed it – ground corn. They are very easy to do.
Scrape off a few ears into your blender. Three small ears made about a cup of corn kernels.
I added a tablespoon of olive oil, (butter works too) and about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Other options to add here would be chopped garlic, some parsley, or some hot chili. Ticos do it “puro”, but they generally don’t use a lot of spices. Blend on pulse, scraping and folding in the sides, until you have a thick, gloppy paste. It doesn’t have to be completely ground up.
Heat a skillet with a small amount of oil
Put your chorreada mix into the pan, and spread with spoon, knife or spatula until about 1/4 inch thick.
Cook it longer than you would think for a pancake, the corn needs to cook. If you haven’t cooked it enough, it will fall apart when you try to pick it up. When lightly browned, loosen your pancake on all sides, and flip it over
Mine got a little TOO browned, but still tasted fine! The traditional way to serve it is smothered with natilla (sour cream). Here, I used homemade cream cheese, which I make from the leftover whey after making butter.
Mmmmm…..que rico! (delicious!)
A couple months earlier, at the time of the main corn harvest, friends invited me to their annual corn festival party. With about 60 people there, the chorreada making was in full swing. Here is the grinding and cooking operation. Traditionally, a flat pan is used for frying these over a wood stove.
Veggie Gringa Devours Costa Rica 