Milho Verde – Brazilian Sweetcorn
Some time ago I was browsing the Brazil section of Reddit when I saw someone asking for advice: “I’m moving from the US to Rio in a few months – is there anything I should bring with me that is hard to get over there?”.
This caught my interest, so I had a look at the responses – most of them seemed pretty sensible, but then I saw one reply which struck me as odd. It said something like “You should bring can openers – they don’t have them here. Also bring good ballpoint pens, gem clips, file folders and sweetcorn”.
Items apparently not found in Brazil…
The whole list just made me go “Urgh?”. First off, there was the can opener thing. I bought a can opener here in Rio when we moved into our apartment so I couldn’t understand what the guy was talking about (did he think Brazilians opened cans with their teeth?). I was also perplexed by the items of stationery – I had picked up all those things and more at a stationers in Botafogo.
But what really got me was the sweetcorn. Sweetcorn?! Sweetcorn accounts for a whole category of street vendor here and what’s more, it’s delicious! I couldn’t let that go – I replied, saying that sweetcorn is common in Brazil and also very tasty.
At this point someone else got involved and asked if I had “ever lived in North USA – the corn there is delicious. The corn in Brazil is so bad that they wouldn’t feed it to the cattle”. Woah! [deep breath, count to 10] Now I haven’t lived in any part of the US, so I can’t compare, but if you think the corn in Brazil is bad, you need to change the place you’re buying your corn!
Here in Brazil, sweetcorn is known as Milho Verde, which literally means ‘green corn’. If you get it really young then it actually is a little green, but in general it looks pretty similar to the sweetcorn we get back England. Taste-wise, I would say Brazilian sweetcorn (if fresh) is more tender and at least as sweet as the corn back home (and I loved the corn back home!).
One thing they do in the markets here is to cut a little window into the husk so you can inspect the kernels to see how fresh they are:
If the kernels have little dents or wrinkles then you know the corn is past its best.
As I mentioned above, milho verde is a popular snack that you can buy on the streets. Given that a lot of the snack options in Brazil tend to be quite greasy, it’s great to have a lighter option. The vendors have neat little carts with a big pot of boiling water in the middle. Around this they have the required sweetcorn paraphernalia:
On the right you can see the big pot to cook the corn; in front of that you see pamonha parcels; front-left you can see the salt water tray (the corn is rolled in this to give it a salty tang); behind the tray you see margarine (sadly not real butter) and napkins and finally at the back are the husks which are used to serve/hold the corn.
Whenever I see the words “fast food”, “healthy” and “delicious” in the same sentence, I start to get suspicious, but in the case of milho verde, I think all 3 descriptions fit (as long as you don’t go nuts with the butter/salt …which I usually do). Now that I think of it, I agree with that Reddit guy on one thing – I wouldn’t feed this to cattle either – they can stick to grass and leave the corn for me!
Check out the awesome kernel formation! As far as I know this is not normal.
One final thing since we’re talking about Milho. When I write these things I usually ask Mrs Eat Rio is there’s anything interesting or unusual about the subject that could be worth including. This time she thought for a moment and then told me a about a trocadilho (play-on-words). It relates to corn and the Portuguese masculine augmentative:
A million? A big piece of corn? Everyone with me? Image source
Sorry but I have to agree that the corn here in Rio is awful. Thinking that I just got a bad ear on my first purchase I tried a couple of different vendors. Same outcome each time. It’s tough & flavorless. I honestly thought they must be using the cheap variety of corn we feed to cattle in the states. I always look forward to a freshly steamed and buttered ear of corn when going back to Texas. There is just no caparison to the fresh summer time sweet corn-on-the-cob in the states.
Hi S! :)
Have you ever bought corn from one of the decent supermarkets or a street market (to take home and cook yourself)? When I’ve picked up corn that looks good and fresh it has been really delicious (I picked some up from Hortifruti and had it the night before last actually).
I have had a couple of bad corns from the street vendors (I guess some of them can been a bit unscrupulous about keeping corn that had gone a bit chewy and dull). But my experience doesn’t support that Brazilian corn is bad per se.
Still, all this talk of how amazing the corn is in the US is making me think I’ll have to go check it out – maybe I just don’t know what I’m missing! ;)
Reason being for bad corn, the Rio producers use sewage in their irrigation
Sweet corn, or “corn on the cob” as it is more commonly referred to in the USA, is definitely better in the USA than in Brazil, in my personal experience. I’ve had a few good ears of corn in Brazil, but not many. The difference to me is the size of the kernels and the amount of liquid they contain. Brazilian sweet corn tends to have much larger kernels, that contain much less liquid, than what you typically find in the USA. Now canned and frozen corn, those I find to be exactly the same as what you get in the USA, with the exception that the Brazilian canners add tons more sodium to a can of corn than what they do in the USA. I am a salt lover, and even I have to first pour the corn into a strainer and rinse it good before I can eat it. Same goes for the canned peas.
Hi Carlos Eduardo,
OK, now I’m really going to have to hunt down some sweetcorn next time I’m in the states! Maybe I’m just being swayed by the corn I had the other night – I remember thinking the kernels were smaller but more tender and delicate than the ones I’m used to from England, but who knows? Maybe the corn in England is even worse!! ;)
I agree with S.
Although Brazilian corn isn’t as hard as your Reddit friend makes out it definitely isn’t as tender as corn found in American markets. I will try your Hortifruti suggestion though, and hope to be surprised.
One thing corn lovers should ponder is what goes well with this harder version. A possible advantage I plan to study is the kernels firmness being able to carry those more robust sauces. And if this is the case then what sauces should be used. Perhaps a corn-gravy combo is a good place to start.
“Check out the awesome kernel formation!”. Ohmeudeus.
Yeah, maybe in a chowder. Maybe in a a red or green salsa.
My mother used to take left over mashed potatoes and corn, mix them together with a little added flower and some seasonings to flavor it up a bit. She then made hamburger size patties of the potato/corn mixture, and quick browned each side of the patty in a hot greased skillet. The finished product could be eaten just as is, or in a sandwich. I ate many mashed potato sandwiches as a lad.
Carlos Eduardo,
Interesting, sounds like a hash brown created from a mashed potato foundation. I would have it as is though since putting it in a sandwich is just to much starch in one serving for my taste.
I was thinking of using individual kernels like the ones found on the cob illustrated below as chips, or vessels for sauces. http://semifreelife.blogspot.com.br/2012/09/bolivia-day-four.html
A chowder sounds good as well, especially since the big ass kernels (notice how my scientific nomenclature for kernels differ from Tom’s) are found in the Andes and I have yet to see them in Brazilian markets.
I don’t know which country sells the best sweetcorn, the most delicious sweetcorn, but we can find a wide variety of articles at a stationer’s in Rio de Janeiro, either in the city centre or in south zone including: ballpoint pens, gem clips and file folders. However, the quality of American products are better than the Brazilian ones.
Hi Marcos – yes, I’ve had no problem getting hold of decent stationery. I guess you can probably get better/cheaper stuff in the states, but as with the corn, I think it’s going a bit far to say they don’t have it! I guess maybe I just don’t care enough about the quality of my gem clips and ballpoint pens ;)
Yep, sorry, sweet corn in the states is waaay better. Sometimes it’s so good there that you don’t even have to cook it– I actually prefer it that way. I do love me some pamonha here, though.
Wow, you eat it raw off the cob?! That must be amazing! OK, well I get it that the corn is better in the States – but I stick to my original point which is that the corn in Brazil (if it’s fresh) is still really delicious and I love it. Of course this may all change once I’ve tasted this North American wondercorn… ;)
My wife, who’s Brazilian, says that the sweetcorn we get in London is way better than the stuff back in Brazil. I think it’s sweeter or more tender or something. It’s been a while since I had corn in Brazil and I can take it or leave it in London too so who knows… There are definitely more foods made from corn in Brazil than in the UK (but maybe not the US). Even ingredients, like the flour made from corn (farinha de milho) that’s got nothing to do with British cornflour (which is more like corn starch anyway).
“I think it’s sweeter or more tender or something” – ha ha! Said like someone who can definitely take it or leave it! ;)
I always thought calling it cornflour was a bit misleading – I wonder how many people new to the UK have got home from the shops hoping to make cornbread (or whatever) and been disappointed…
I had to pitch in, I have lived in the UK, USA and Brazil. Fresh on the cob, I haven’t found a massive difference. No more than a seasonal difference. I guess weather patterns affect the juice level. In a can, nothing beats the english corn, I used to sit and eat a can of green giant with a spoon.
Can opener: Totally agree, 5 dollars or 5 pounds buys you a fully functioning modern can opener, 5 reais gets you something inferior to a swiss army knife can opener, 50 reais gets you a 5 pound can opener
Office supplies are also about price v quality. 10 good pens cost 5 dollars, 1 of those pens in Rio costs 5 dollars
Hi there Richard – thanks for pitching in, but next time can you agree with me a bit more? ;-)
You’re right about the price of kitchen equipment. Decent knives, vegetable peelers, you name it, are all much more expensive over here (like most imported goods). Maybe I was just being too literal minded – when the guy said of can openers “They don’t have them”, I just thought “What are you talking about?”.
I disagree on the can openers. The Brazilian version might look like a rustic and inferior affair but I think it’s actually safer than the usual American opener that leaves the can lid looking like a makeshift scalpel. My mother once got a multi-stitch cut from one of those and her hand has never been quite the same.
As for the price, yeah it’ll be more expensive in Brazil, but you only need to buy one, right? I’m not sure the price difference will offset the cost of the international movers you’ll need to hire if you decide to take everything that might be more expensive in Brazil.
Re stationery, the shop ‘Caçula’ is stationery heaven! There’s one in Rio’s Centro, which is ENORMOUS, stretching over various old buildings and on two streets. The things I bring back from abroad tend to be spices for curries (although you can get quite a few of them at Casas Pedro), vitamin supplements and medicines for dogs (eg medicine to prevent ticks, which can cause a dog equivalent of Lyme Disease – these medicines are extremely expensive here). And, of course, cheese (CHEDDAR!!!!!), but this doesn’t last very long.
Thanks for that Georgia – I haven’t heard of Caçula, but it sounds like a good place to know about!
Ah Cheddar – how I miss it (you know, proper cheddar). I also bring back spices – I probably have a lifetime’s supply of garam masala in my kitchen spice cupboard! :D
Hi, Carolina,
Sixty-four years have passed since 1960 and, yes, much has changed in the world and in Brazil. I am Brazilian and have been living in the US for the past 44 years, but I return to Brazil every year. To be honest with you, I find most of your comments, especially about coffee, laughable. Every time I go down to Rio de Janeiro I have delicious coffee, sold in any of our shopping centers and even in botequins (popular bars), so I don’t know where you have been looking for it or who you get yours from on your two visits. If you leave coffee on the stove for hours, it will get bitter, that’s for sure, but drinking it is your choice.
The same goes for cheese. There is nothing in the States that approximates a queijo de Minas, for example (Minas cheese), in case you don’t remember, after all fifty-four years is a long time). Conversely, I find the most popular local cheese here, American cheese, tasteless (I refer to the brand, American, you know, the one sold on hamburgers and cheeseburgers in major fast-food chains, in the US).
My brother-in-law, who spent two years here while studying for his Master’s degree described US coffee well. He said its taste reminded him of the taste of the water used to rinse a used coffee pot, which he once drank (by mistake, of course). : )
I agree with another comment that sweet corn is better in the U.S. the way we usually make it by boiling it. It has smaller, moister kernels. But I loved the roasted corn in Brazil, especially on São João Day. Almost everyone built a small fire in front of their homes and placed cobs of corn on the hot coals, turning it often so the tops of the kernels were well-browned. I’ve tried to roast corn on a grill at home, but it’s not the same.
In 2011, when I was being driven from Aracajú to the small town of Glória where I had lived and worked in the late 60s, we drove through a small town, & someone spotted a vendor roasting corn on the side of the road. The driver stopped and again, I had that wonderful taste of roasted corn I had missed for the previous 40 years.
And when we arrived at the home of two of my former students (now married) they served pamonha (corn puddiing) after dinner. It used to be made by pouring a mixture of mashed fresh corn, sugar, eggs, and milk into little sacks made from corn husks, then placing them in boiling water to cook. Now it is heated in plastic bags placed in boiling water. I had forgotten how much I loved that stuff.
This post reminded me of all the things I was told before I went to Brazil. Some were true, some not. That was the late 60s so some things were true then that are not today.
Brazilian women never wear slacks except in resort areas. FALSE!
Take a 2 year supply of tampons. They aren’t available in Brazil. TRUE!
You’ll be lucky if you can find meat or other protein sources once a month. FALSE! I was in the middle of a cattle region. Nearly everyone had chickens and pigs in their back yards. We weren’t far from the coast, so fish was available at weekly markets as were beef, pork, lamb and chicken.
You need to take quinine the entire time you are in Brazil. FALSE! It wasn’t necessary in most regions. Occasionally we’d get a notice that a case of malaria had popped up in our area and we were directed to take our quinine. But in most cases, the person contracted it elsewhere and the directive was lifted shortly.
Don’t drink unbottled or unfiltered, unboiled water. TRUE!
Brazil has the worst coffee because they export all the good stuff. TRUE!. It might have been the way it was prepared, or that the pot of coffee sat on people’s wood-burning stoves all day, getting stronger and bitter or that my mostly-poor neighbors bought the cheapest coffee available, but the coffee was truly horrible. The other American I lived with didn’t like coffee so we drank maté tea in our home. I usually had coffee only at someone else’s home. They thought I was exceedingly strange when I requested mine without sugar —many brasileiros filled their cups half full of sugar before adding coffee.
There were many more which I can’t remember.
The other American working in my town had been told other things she should take with her from home. Two were very useful. There were no potato peelers in Brazil. She took a half dozen with her. Although they came in handy to peel fruits & veggies, we eventually used them most-often to slice potatoes thin enough to make potato chips —a novelty at that time in Brazil. Everyone loved them and we often spent two or three days making enough to take as our contribution to a party. (If I had only realized, I could have started the potato chip industry in Brazil and made a fortune.) She left the peelers with me when she went home with directives on who to give them to when I left. They were prized items, more valuable to some than much more expensive items we left behind.
The other thing she took to Brazil was a bottle of concentrated maple flavoring which we added to Karo Syrup to make “maple syrup” for pancakes. We eventually ran out of it. After that, we made fruit salad to eat on our pancakes, which —with all the fresh fruit available —was delicious and probably better for us.
When I returned in 2011, I didn’t notice anything I could not have lived without. But I stayed with friends or in hotels, so I didn’t cook for myself or make purchases of household items, so there might have been something that I didn’t notice.
Hi Carolina – I just wanted to say how fascinating I am finding your comments. Apologies it is taking me so long to respond, but there’s a lot to digest! :)
I linked (Facebook) to your comment on the Brazilian music earlier and 2 of my journalist friends actually contacted me to say how interesting they found it! Wonderful, fascinating stuff!
“Brazil has the worst coffee,” you wrote. Relative to what,? I’ve traveled to Europe many times, (in fact I was there before I ever came to the US, having lived in London for a year). And you, Carolina? Have you ever tasted British coffee (ugh!), French coffee, German coffee, Spanish coffee, to mention but a few? The only country whose coffee is comparable to Brazil’s is to be found in Italy.
Where else have you been to make that comparison, Carolina? You’ve forgotten to mention that.
I live in the States and I want to make a Brazilian recipe that asks for “milho verde.” What is its equivalent in the US? Does it come in cans or in jars? Is it easy to find it in markets? Does anyone know of a food company that sells it?
I can’t add much to the discussion about the difference between American/British and Brazilian corn. Although I have never been a fan of corn, I’ve eaten it in both countries, and I don’t recall any significant difference, but then, I can’t claim to be a connoisseuse of the product..
Hi Anna – thanks for your comment! I think you can just use regular fresh sweetcorn (on the cob). If you do a Google Image Search for “milho verde” you’ll see it’s just they use for sweetcorn, so I guess you could take the lazy option and use corn from a can/jar too. Out of interest, what is the recipe?
Hi, tom,
Bolo de milho cremoso, do site Petitchef.com. It looks good, and brand-new to me, asI’ve never used milho verde before. I always try to do things from scratch and using fresh ingredients, so I am going for the fresh version here too. Thanks for your help.
Hey :)
To those people that are saying corn is better in the USA it is because the corn is waaaaaaayyyyy sweeter there. So it comes to your personal preference! There are different kinds of corn, the type of corn that grow in each coutry an be different depending on many factor such as the kind of soil and weather.
I am Brazilian (from Goiania – where you can find the best pamonhas!!!) and I lived in the US and I hated corn there!!! I prefer my corn to be less sweet so it not that one is better than the other – You just happen to like something you have been used to like since you were a kid!
Summing up stop trying to say oh this is better than or that is better try to appreciate the diversity of foods people can create with the same ingredient ;)
Thanks for your comment Adriana. I think it’s a good way of looking at things – we often *do* just like things the way we are used to having them (especially if we’re talking about how we grew up with those things). Sometimes people even change their minds with time – taking about avocados/abacate, I always preferred the little ‘hass’ variety as they are more creamy, but over time I have actually started preferring the larger ones we get here in the markets. Sure, they aren’t as creamy, but I actually find the little hass ones a bit too much nowadays!
I’m from Minas Gerais, and after I got married I’ve just moved to New Hampshire and after hearing a lot about the awesome American corn today I just bought from the market cooked myself and my dad was looking forward to know how good was this sweet corn dos states… but it was too sweet for me. I’m just used to the flavor of the Brazilian corn specially MG e GO a lot of pamonha a I like the salty ones so…not for me but I can totally see why people love it! And it’s amazing the variety!! Thank God we can choose 🤗! I’ve been cooking a lot of alkaline recipes on my Instagram account if you guys wanna have a look @gabyerasmus feel free to go there 😬
Hey! Do you guys know How can we find brazilian corn in the us?? I’m dying to eat some good pamonha 🥲
This website mentions “Brazilian sweetcorn”. There’s no such a thing in Brazil. They use field corn (cow corn) which has enough starch to bind when making pamonha. Sweet corn does not.
As the comment above mentioned, in Brazil we serve Feed corn. As a farmer in Brazil and in the US I can tell you that most Brazilians just don’t like like sweet corn ( myself included) . In fact some drive hours here in the US to buy feed corn.
I’m Brazilian but grew up in the US, so I’m familiar with bizarre opinions about things in Brazil by US ex-pats living there. I do however have to agree that corn is better in the US, though I occasionally get a craving to eat the kind from Brazil. I actually ended up here while googling what type of corn they use. I don’t think I’ve had corn on the cob outside of Brazil and the US so I can’t compare to other places.
Looks like I’m 11 years late, but to add something: the corn you find in grocery stores in the US is called supersweet corn. It has no starch in the kernels. That’s why you can eat it off the cob or just lightly boiled for 3-5 minutes. It’s easy to see if you dry a whole ear with the kernels in. The kernels shrivel up completely. It’s almost surprising that they can sprout when planted.
There’s also regular sweet corn which has a mix of starch and sugar. When dried the kernels/seeds still look like corn. Looking at commercial seed companies in Brazil, this seems to be available along with silage/feed corn and “grain corn” for making cornmeal and such. I’m not the farmer above so I can’t comment on what type you actually find at the store in Brazil. I can say though that I thought the “verde” part of “milho verde” refers to eating it before the plant matures and the sugar has turned into starch.
I only see supersweet corn seeds in Brazil sold in small quantities for home planting. In the US, there are lots of types of regular sweet and supersweet corn varieties on sale for home planting.
Hi CL! Woah, 11 years!! Well, after all this time, I guess I’ve somewhat come around to the general view which is that while sweetcorn here in Brazil is alright, it really isn’t as sweet and juicy as the stuff from the US (or UK for that matter). I still really enjoy munching on a cob whilst I’m on the beach, but yeah, it’s not really the same is it? Funny that the supersweet variety (which would surely go down a storm if offered alongside the regular milho verde) hasn’t taken off… Maybe they’re more expensive or difficult to grow…?
Hi, as a Brazilian living in Australia for 7 years, I have to tell you: yes, the corn is different! Australian sweetcorn is more sweet than Brazilian corn, but Australian avocado is more “salty” and Brazilian avocado is more sweet. I never lived in US, but I believe the difference of the taste has to do it the type of soil the vegetables/fruit grows. I don’t believe there’s a good corn and a bad corn is just different perspectives. If you grow up eating sweetcorn will be your favourite, if you grow up eating milho verde that’s probably will be your favourite.
Hi Barbara – thanks for your comment. I totally agree – many of us like things the way they were when we first learned to love them as children. Sometimes you just hanker for the thing you know. If you’re used to super-sweet sweetcorn then there’s a good chance you’ll find Brazilian milho verde a bit dull and disappointing. I like them both, but I guess if I could choose between them I’d go for the sweet yellow variety I grew up with in Europe.