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FRESH sweetcorn is one of the delights of late summer and early autumn. Its sweetness derives from a genetic variant that emerged some time after corn was first domesticated by people in Central America, about 9000 years ago. This mutation, called su1, stops the plant turning sugar into starch while it grows. Some sugar is instead converted into a different carbohydrate, phytoglycogen, which gives sweetcorn its creamy texture.

After harvesting, enzymes begin converting the sugar into starch, so sweetcorn is best eaten on the day it is picked. Some older varieties of corn can lose as much as half of their sugar in 24 hours.

Most sweetcorn sold today comes from super-sweet varieties first developed in the 1960s. These have a mutation called sh2, which gives them higher initial sugar levels, and they remain sweet for longer after harvest. They also contain less phytoglycogen than old-fashioned corn, so aren’t as creamy, but newer varieties are beginning to address this.

When you peel back the leafy outer covering, called the husk, you will find a fibrous material known as corn silk. A strand is attached to every kernel, and each one is a tube that pollen travels down to reach the corn’s ovaries, which develop into the kernels.

The silk can be a pain to remove. One way to make the process easier is to leave the husk on and cook the corn in a microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Then, wearing gloves, cut off the stalk end of the ear just after the final row of kernels, grab the end – where the silk strands come together – and shake the corn ear out of the husk.

There are many ways to cook corn on the cob. I love grilling corn on the barbecue until the kernels start to blacken. This creates some wonderful roasted flavours thanks to the Maillard reaction, but the downsides are that the kernels are less juicy and the wrinkled skins stick in your teeth.

When corn is overcooked, pectin, a carbohydrate that forms the glue between plant cells, dissolves. This results in a mushy texture. For perfectly cooked corn, Lan Lam at advises bringing a large pot of water to the boil, dropping the corn cobs in, then turning off the heat and leaving the pot covered for between 10 and 30 minutes. The temperature will quickly drop below 85°C (185°F), the point at which pectin dissolves, but should remain above 65°C (149°F) – high enough to gelatinise the starch inside the kernels.

The kernel skin, the pericarp, isn’t very permeable, so don’t bother salting the water. Instead, add salt directly to the cooked corn. My favourite way to serve corn on the cob, taken from Meera Sodha’s book East, is with miso butter and a squeeze of lime. Use a fork to mix the miso paste into soft, unsalted butter – the miso is salty enough on its own – and slather it onto the cooked corn.

Sam Wong is assistant news editor and self-appointed chief gourmand at 91av. Follow him @samwong1

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