Many summertime memories are made around food.

When I think of summer I think of melty ice cream sandwiches on the front porch, pasta salad and sandwiches in the kitchen with the door open for the breeze, and S’mores around a crackling campfire with friends. Another summertime food really stands out in my memory (perhaps in yours as well): sweet corn.

This time of year, you can drive down the streets of my hometown and spot an old truck parked in a lot with a hand-painted sign advertising ‘Sweet Corn’ in big, bold letters. Sitting in the shade nearby are usually a couple of kids with a coffee can for the cash, and paper bags for the ears. And the bed of the truck is fully loaded with a big bounty of delicious sweet corn.

When I was little my mom would pull over the car when she saw the sweet corn truck, and I would get out and help fill the bags with the “best” ears I could find. We would shuck the corn on the front stoop and put them in the big pot on the hot stove and wait - butter in one hand and salt in the other - for a steaming ear of sweet corn.

As an adult, I realize there are more options for preparing an ear of corn, other than the traditional toppings of butter and salt. And one of the best toppings (though I may be biased) is black garlic.

Don’t get me wrong, Jalapeno Butter on sweet corn is crazy delicious, and honey-buttered sweet corn is lip-smackin’ good! But those recipes and others could all benefit from the addition of a few minced cloves of black garlic (as could the BBQ sauce, the ketchup, and the potato salad at your summer cookout!) Black Garlic is an incredibly versatile, single-ingredient food that can be used in just about as many ways as table salt, so give it a try on your sweet corn!

The simplest way to enjoy this treat is to sprinkle savory Black Garlic Powder onto buttery grilled sweet corn. After you taste it, we know you will be using black garlic powder just as much as salt and pepper in your everyday cooking. But my personal favorite way to enjoy Black Garlic Buttered Sweet Corn is to make a Black Garlic Compound Butter in advance, and then drench the ears in the mixture (make extra as it is truly addicting and can be used later on hot noodles, toasted bbq buns, roasted veggies, drizzled on steak or chicken wings, and also as a popcorn topping!)

In the Recipes section of our website we have two different black garlic compound butter recipes! Check them out to see which one best suits you (links below), then add your favorite ingredients. Finally, hop over to the local sweet corn truck and pick up as many ears as you can carry because you’re going to want extra!

See you by the grill, black garlic fans!

Nat