well, jim, i'm sorry your mycophagous tendencies are not better sated... i have never tasted huitlacoche either but i just thought i'd mention that at my favorite japanese rest. in brooklyn, they serve these cold mini-soba or -udon dishes (soba and udon are two types of noodles for those that don't know). in the summer, nothing better than a cold noodle dish as an appetizer before dinner. the broth is dashi- and wakame-based (dashi is made from dry bonito flakes and wakame is a large, coarse seaweed). there are 3 types of this soup that you can order: with tempura (veggies that are battered and deep fried), with tororo (mountain yam) or kinoko, which is a medley of mushrooms. there are 5 types in the latter dish: wood ear, straw mushrooms, button mushrooms, enoki (small white mushrooms) and nameko (tiny round ones). the whole thing is flavored with orange peel and is yuummmmm... i don't care particularly for the tororo (Dioscorea), which is a white paste with no particular taste, but i also order it sometimes as it comes with a small dish of grated ginger, chopped scallions and wasabi to be mixed in the soup a la gout. sorry for the long off-topic post... :-) tsuh yang --- Jim McKenney <jimmckenney@starpower.net> wrote: > Judy, I don't believe you! First you get to taste > oca before I do, and now > you get huitlacoche. I fruitlessly badgered (how's > that for nicely mixed > metaphors?) a Mexican friend for years to have some > sent from home for me. > I can't imagine the USDA allowing the fresh product > into the country, but I > understand it's available canned. > What is it like? Is it mushroom-y? Mild? Strong? > I really want to try it. Am I to be reduced to > lurking around farmyard > dumpsters looking for corn smut discards? > "Jim, where have you been all day?" "Going through > dumpsters looking for > smut." > Am I in trouble? > Jim McKenney > jimmckenney@starpower.net > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where > my mycophagous urges > are usually fulfilled by the grocery store varieties > or the local morels. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com/