'Amaize' white sweet corn is dessert on a cob

Crookshank Company

Amaize Sweet Corn actually looks like the promotional pictures.

We rolled our eyes when the Idaho-based, sweet corn breeder and producer Crookham Company sent our office a few ears of "Amaize" sweet corn with a note claiming it's caused a taste-tester to propose marriage to farmers. We grimaced while reading a statement from the company's president, George Crookham, claiming the corn "takes us beyond what we thought a sweet corn could be." And we crumpled up the sheet when we read the words "sweet corn nirvana."

Then we took a bite and discovered, to our chagrin, that it truly is dessert on a cob.

We called the company to ask for advice on cooking sweet corn. They suggested boiling a pot of water and dropping the cob in for about three minutes. "A lot of people overcook it," Melinda Goodman, the PR rep for the company, told us over the telephone, warning that boiling sweet corn too long can rob it of its flavor.

For anyone who'd like to grill it, Goodman suggests peeling the corn husks without removing them from the base of the corn, ripping out the "silk" inside, and then putting it in water for 10 to 15 minutes with the skin pulled back up. Grill the covered cob for 20 minutes and turn it every 5. Then it's time to chow.

Personally, we prefer biting into a raw elote.

Crookham Company says this is a new variety that's premiering in Minnesota. You can get it exclusively at Lunds and Byerly's stores in the Twin Cities. We'd recommend checking it out--the corn is sweet, and the flavor stays in your mouth for hours. It's a great treat.