As the ear roasted, the green kernels would pop sometimes with quite a sharp sound. If this popping noise was very loud, we would laugh and say to the one roasting the ear, “Ah, we see you have stolen that ear from some other family’s garden!”
Green corn was regularly taken out of the garden to roast until frost came, when it lost its fragrance and fresh taste. To restore its freshness, we would take the green corn silk of the same plucked ear and rub the silk well into the kernels of the ear as they stood in the cob. This measurably restored the fresh taste and smell.
We did not do this if the ear was to be boiled, only if we intended to roast it.
For green corn, boiled and eaten fresh, we used all varieties except the gummy; for when green they tasted alike. But for roasting ears we thought the two yellow varieties, hard and soft, were the best.
Mätu´a-la´kapa
A common dish made from green corn was mätu´a-la´kapa, from mätu´a, green corn; and la´kapa, mush, or something mushy; thus, wheat flour mixed with water to a thick paste we call la´kapa, even if unboiled.
Ripening green corn, with the grain still soft, was shelled off the cob with the tip of the thumb or with the thumb nail. The shelled corn was pounded in a mortar and boiled with beans; it was flavored with spring salt.
Corn Bread
We also made a kind of corn bread from green corn.