Daz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

It was a very hot and humid day and I was riding around Penang Island being a tourist and taking in the sights. In a small village near the middle of the island, I stopped by a shaved ice drink stand and there, beside a contraption that looked like an old washing machine mangle, was the vendor with huge blocks of ice and various containers and canned fruits.

He turned the handle of his ice shaver, added palm sugar, red beans, some types of agar set jelly, condensed milk and canned sweetcorn to a plastic bag. The resulting concoction then had a straw added to it.

The astonishing flavours that excited my taste buds that day have never been repeated, however I had a new respect for the flavour of corn as a dessert ingredient.

Back in New Zealand, almost every cafe in the country serves corn fritters – the savoury fritter almost part of our staple diet. Most of us have tried popcorn or cornflakes, other uses include polenta and hominy – both made from dried maize – and a few of us have even relished rotten corn that has fermented in water. So with the fresh corn cobs available now, I thought I would share an old recipe that I have had success with in the past at delicatessens and more recently, a wine degustation menu.

This very Moorish bread contains golden syrup, molasses and blueberries and can be served with anything containing bacon or toasted and served with a savoury relish.

Corn and Blueberry Bread
Makes 1x26cm cake tin

1/2 cup fine cornmeal (polenta)

1.5 cups of boiling water

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup golden syrup

1 egg, well beaten

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup luke warm water

3.5 cups bakers flour

4 cobs of corn, cooked, then kernels cut off

2 cups fresh blueberries

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a little flour to form a thin batter, allow foaming up. Stir the cornmeal into the boiling water until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in molasses, golden syrup, oil and the beaten egg. When the cornmeal mix has cooled, stir in the yeast and mix, then add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turn around in bowl so butter covers dough and allow mixture to rise until it doubles in bulk – about an hour. Punch dough down and flatten out into a square, spread on corn and blueberries and carefully roll up like a sponge roll. Press dough into a greased cake tin or a cast iron skillet cover and let to rise again for about 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 220 degrees for about 40 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on rack and slice only when thoroughly cool.