In a Mexico City market in the rainy season, a vendor folds a blue-corn tortilla around a spoonful of something inky black, adds stringy Oaxaca cheese and presses it onto the comal. The filling looks alarming. It tastes like the best mushroom you have ever eaten, with a sweet hint of corn.
Huitlacoche (pronounced “weet-lah-KOH-cheh”) is a fungus, Ustilago maydis (also classified as Mycosarcoma maydis), that grows on ears of corn and turns the kernels into swollen, silvery-grey growths. Farmers in most countries call it corn smut and destroy it. In Mexico it has been eaten since pre-Hispanic times and is prized as a delicacy, often nicknamed the Mexican truffle.
This guide is for travellers to Mexico, home cooks and gardeners who find it in their own corn: what it tastes like, how Mexicans eat it, where and when to find it, how to harvest and cook it, and safety and dietary notes.
What Does Huitlacoche Taste Like?
Earthy, smoky and savoury, like a cross between mushroom and corn, with a slight sweetness and an inky depth. When cooked it turns soft and almost creamy, and colours everything around it black.
Where the Name Comes From
The word comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Some websites claim it means “raven’s excrement”; linguists point out that this is a mix-up with a bird’s name, and that the root cuitla here means an excrescence or growth. Either way, the name describes what you see: a strange growth on the ear of corn.
How Mexicans Eat Huitlacoche
- Quesadillas de huitlacoche: the classic, with Oaxaca cheese in a corn tortilla, sold at market stalls and street griddles.
- Tlacoyos and sopes: thick masa cakes topped or filled with huitlacoche, salsa and cheese.
- Sautéed with onion, garlic and epazote, the essential Mexican herb, as a taco filling.
- In crêpes with a cream sauce, a dish popular since the mid-20th century.
- In soups and omelettes, and in modern restaurant dishes from risotto to ice cream.
Where and When to Find It
Fresh huitlacoche appears in the rainy season, roughly June to September in central Mexico, when warm, wet weather favours the fungus. Look for it in Mexico City’s markets, around Puebla, Tlaxcala and the State of Mexico, and at quesadilla stalls throughout central Mexico. Ask for quesadilla de huitlacoche by name.
Outside the season, and outside Mexico, it is sold canned or frozen, in Mexican grocery shops and online. Canned huitlacoche is softer and less vivid but works well in quesadillas and sauces.
From Pest to Delicacy Abroad
In the United States and Europe, corn smut has long been treated as a crop disease. In 1989, the James Beard Foundation in New York held a dinner built around it, and since then chefs have promoted it as a gourmet ingredient. A few farmers in the US now grow it deliberately, and universities have studied ways to produce it.
Found It in Your Own Corn? How to Harvest It
Gardeners in North America and Europe often ask online whether the strange growths on their corn are edible. They are, if you pick them at the right time.
- Harvest young. The best galls are firm, plump and silvery-grey outside, usually two to three weeks after the ear forms.
- Cut before they dry. Once the galls turn dry and powdery, filled with black spores, they are past eating.
- Cook within a day or two, or freeze them; fresh huitlacoche spoils quickly.
- Clean and chop, removing husks and any cob pieces, then sauté.
Huitlacoche from sweet corn and field corn are both edible. If you are unsure what you have found, do not eat it; any unfamiliar fungus should be identified first.
How to Cook Huitlacoche at Home
- Sauté chopped onion and garlic in a little oil until soft.
- Add chopped fresh green chilli if you like heat.
- Add the huitlacoche and cook for 10–15 minutes until soft and dark, stirring often.
- Stir in chopped epazote (or a little coriander if you cannot find it) and season with salt.
- Fill tortillas with the mixture and cheese and cook on a hot pan to make quesadillas.
Nutrition
Huitlacoche is higher in protein than ordinary corn and is a source of lysine, an essential amino acid that corn lacks. It also contains fibre and beta-glucans, compounds also found in mushrooms.
Safety and Dietary Notes
Halal note: huitlacoche is a fungus, so it is plant-based and halal in itself. When eating out, ask whether tortillas or tlacoyos were made with lard (manteca), which is common in some traditional masa dishes, and whether the filling was cooked alongside pork or chorizo on a shared griddle. Quesadillas with Oaxaca cheese are widely eaten by Muslim travellers; views on animal rennet in cheese vary. See our halal food travel guide.
- Pregnancy: some Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest traditionally used corn smut to induce labour, as it has mild effects similar to ergot. Pregnant people may prefer to avoid it.
- Allergies: as with mushrooms, a small number of people may react to it.
- Vegans and vegetarians: huitlacoche itself is vegan; quesadillas contain cheese, and some fillings are cooked in lard.
- Gluten-free: naturally, if served in corn tortillas.
What It Costs in 2026
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Quesadilla de huitlacoche at a market stall in Mexico City | About MXN 30–60 |
| Fresh huitlacoche at a Mexican market (in season) | Varies by harvest, sold by weight |
| Canned huitlacoche abroad | About USD 4–8 per can |
| Huitlacoche dish at a high-end restaurant | Often USD 15–30 |
Plan your Mexico budget with our food budget calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is huitlacoche in English?
Corn smut, a fungus that grows on corn. Restaurants often call it Mexican truffle or corn mushroom.
How do you pronounce huitlacoche?
“Weet-lah-KOH-cheh”. It is sometimes spelled cuitlacoche.
Is huitlacoche safe to eat?
Yes, when harvested young and cooked. It has been eaten in Mexico for centuries. Avoid dry, powdery galls, and pregnant people may prefer to avoid it.
Is huitlacoche a mushroom?
It is a fungus, like mushrooms, but a different kind: a smut that grows directly on the corn kernels rather than forming a mushroom cap.
Can I eat corn smut from my garden?
Yes, if you harvest the galls while they are young, firm and silvery, before they dry and release black spores. Cook them soon after picking.
Is huitlacoche vegan?
Huitlacoche itself is vegan. Quesadillas and many dishes add cheese, cream or lard, so ask.
When is huitlacoche season?
The rainy season, roughly June to September in central Mexico. Canned and frozen huitlacoche are available all year.
Where can I buy huitlacoche outside Mexico?
Mexican grocery shops and online retailers sell it canned or frozen. A few specialist farms in the US sell it fresh in late summer.
Why do American and European farmers destroy it?
Because it reduces corn yields and is seen as a crop disease. In Mexico, by contrast, infected ears can sell for more than healthy corn.
What does epazote taste like?
Epazote is a pungent Mexican herb with a flavour somewhere between oregano, mint and anise. It is the traditional partner for huitlacoche and beans.
Is huitlacoche nutritious?
Yes. It has more protein than regular corn, contains lysine, an amino acid corn lacks, and provides fibre and beta-glucans.
Can you freeze huitlacoche?
Yes. Clean and chop it, then freeze raw or after sautéing. It keeps for several months.
More from Mexico and Latin America: chapulines in Oaxaca, churros and all Latin America and Caribbean food guides.
Sources
- Corn smut, Wikipedia (etymology, nutrition, 1989 James Beard dinner, traditional uses)
- Huitlacoche, University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension (harvesting)
- Huitlacoche, Specialty Produce (season, dishes)
- Huitlacoche, Pati Jinich
