# Huitlacoche: Corn Smut or Sacred Gift?

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/huitlacoche-corn-smut-or-sacred-gift.md
Podcast: [The History of Fresh Produce](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611)
Published: 2026-04-07T04:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://hfp.captivate.fm
Audio file: https://op3.dev/e/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/9f701aae-5471-4e90-a2c6-de45f00bbe5b.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/episodes/huitlacoche-corn-smut-or-sacred-gift
Duration seconds: 2302

## Resource

What is huitlacoche, the fungus that Indigenous farmers in Mexico gave thanks for at harvest - and that American agronomists spent a century trying to burn, quarantine, and breed out of existence? Why did two civilizations look at the same diseased corn cob and see, one, a seasonal gift, and the other, an agricultural catastrophe? And how does this strange, blackened organism open a window onto the great collision between Indigenous knowledge and colonial science; from the burning of Aztec codices to the tasting menus of New York? Join John and Patrick as they tell the extraordinary story of corn smut - the Mexican truffle, the genetics laboratory darling, the fungus that fed empires and terrified farmers - in an age when the line between disease and delicacy has never been more hotly contested... ---------- In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! Share this episode with your friends Give a 5-star rating Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

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