Mathews Produce Super Sweet Corn

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles 

Every June and July cars line up to buy some of the sweetest corn around at Mathews Produce in Alexandria. Along with 4 acres of assorted summer produce, Jeremy and Haley Mathews plant 12 acres of “super sweet corn.” Their squash, zucchini, eggplant, and carefully grown tomatoes are certainly top-notch. But it’s the young couple’s tender corn that has customers jockeying for a place in line as early as 6:30 a.m.
            
Haley, a schoolteacher, sells produce during summer vacation from a stand right by the Mathews’ home. This allows her to keep an eye on their 1- and 2-year-old girls, who “love getting dirty.” The Mathews’ also sell to 4 different farmers’ markets in the central Louisiana area, and to a few local restaurants, like the popular Tunk’s. The bulk, however, is sold from their shaded yard.
            
The Mathews’ house originally belonged to Jeremy’s grandfather, who started growing sweet corn about 12 years ago. “Grandpa grew it as a project for us kids,” Jeremy said. “Selling corn taught us responsibility and how to make a little money.”
            
Along with his brother and father, Jeremy also works some 4,000 acres on a farm started by his great-grandfather. The Mathews family grows soybeans, cotton, and field corn. Sweet corn differs from field corn, or dent corn, in that it has a higher sugar content and is picked in the immature milk stage, before the sugar turns to starch. Sweet corn plants are also much shorter. Although the U.S. is the number one producer of sweet corn, less than 1 percent of the corn our farmers grow is sweet corn. 
            
To have sweet corn available as long as possible, Jeremey staggers planting. “We do 10 different plantings,” he said. “About 1½ acres at a time on 16-24 rows. And it’s all bi-color.” Sweet corn types are either yellow, white, or a “bi-color” of yellow and white. He grinned as he refused to tell me his “secret” bi-color hybrid.
            
​He waits to plant until the first week of March. “Can’t risk a late freeze,” Jeremy said. He fertilizes once, when the plants are 5-6 inches tall.

​Maturity is about 74 days, as opposed to 110-115 days for field corn. “And our sweet corn is not Roundup ready or Bt,” Jeremy says. “We do spray some preventative herbicides to keep grass and weeds off. Sometimes a hoe crew and I physically end up pulling weeds.” Irrigation for his produce comes from drip, while corn is watered by poly pipe irrigation.

A few pests are hogs, raccoons, and coyotes, which strip whole ears and leave them in a pile. “Our biggest problem by far,” Jeremy said, “is blackbirds. They open shucks up and peck kernels 3 inches down the ear.”

He took me to a field that was almost 80 percent tasseled and handed me a cob of just-picked corn. I took a bite of the tender, milky kernels and was surprised by their sweetness. I could have eaten the whole thing raw.

“The first planting is ready about the first week of June,” Jeremy said. “We have a 2 or -3-day window before the kernels turn hard. Production goes on until about mid-July.” 

The rest of their produce is harvested and sold throughout the summer.” When fall is around the corner, Jeremy plants sunflowers in their produce acreage. “I take the winter off,” he said. “We like to hunt doves.” 

Since the Mathews’ are corn experts, I asked them their favorite way of cooking their widely-acclaimed product and how they preserve an abundance. “I usually blanch, cut off the kernels, and freeze in a Ziploc,” Haley said. “And my favorite recipe is just plain old corn and bacon.”

Jeremy nodded in agreement about the corn and bacon. Then he showed me a stack of grocery-sized brown paper bags. “That’s what we sell corn in. Some people just roll the top down and put the whole bag of corn in the freezer. Unshucked corn lasts frozen 8 months. And you can microwave it frozen and in the shuck.”  

To find out availability of Haley and Jeremy’s sweet corn or any variety of freshly-picked summer vegetables, call Mathews Produce at 318-623-2057. Address: 6389 Bayou Rapides Road, Alexandria. Facebook: Mathews Super Sweet Corn
             

Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at [email protected].
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
Baked Corn on the Cob
Makes 4 servings
 
4 large ears sweet corn, with husks
½ stick butter, softened
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel back corn husks, but leave them attached to the base of the cob. Remove corn silks. 
2. Combine butter, garlic salt, and black pepper and rub on corn kernels. Fold husks back over buttered corn. Place corn in husks directly on the top oven rack. Roast until corn kernels are soft and the husks are brown, about 30 minutes. To make “handles” for picking up the corn, peel husks back but leave them on the base of the cobs. 
 
 
 
 
Corn and Bean Salad
Makes 6 servings
 
6 ears fresh sweet corn, husks and silks removed
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon hot sauce
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, garbanzo beans, or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper, chopped 
¾ cup minced red onion
½ cup chopped green onion
 
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the ears of corn and cook 3 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut kernels from the cob.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Stir in the corn kernels, beans, bell pepper, onion, and green onion. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. Stir well before serving.
 
 
Haley Mathews’ Skillet Corn and Bacon
Makes 8 servings
 
Although she occasionally adds seasonings like onion, parsley, green onions, or salt, Haley Mathews prefers preparing this dish simply, with only corn and bacon. She also stresses that it is important to cook it in a cast iron skillet. 
 
6 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
6 very fresh ears of corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob
 
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Fry bacon until barely crisp. Add corn and stir constantly until kernels are just cooked through, about 5-8 minutes. Serve hot.
 
 
 
Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
 
Sounds crazy doesn’t it! But ice cream made with fresh sweet corn is delicious.
 
4 ears fresh sweet corn, shucked and silks removed
2 cups whole milk
4 extra large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 
1. Cut kernels of corn off the cobs. Place corn kernels and whole milk in into a large saucepan set over medium heat and stir constantly until mixture starts simmering around the edges. Cover the saucepan and set aside 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, stir together the egg yolks and sugar. Bring the corn mixture back to just a simmer. Whisk a cup of the hot mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk all of egg mixture into the hot milk in the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Strain into a bowl and discard the solids.
3. Whisk in evaporated milk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Refrigerate custard until completely cool. Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.