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2000s Recipes + Menus

Salvadoran Grilled Corn (Elote Loco)

Serves12
  • Active time:30 min
  • Start to finish:30 min
June 2009
El Salvador is the smallest of the Central American republics, and it’s easy to imagine the aroma of corn caramelizing over hot coals wafting from one end of the country to the other. Spreading the ears with a very typical, tangy, crazy-loco sauce gives them verve.

View more of our favorite recipes from this issue.
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup ketchup (optional)
  • 12 ears corn in husks
  • 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated queso blanco (5 1/2 oz) or Parmigiano-Reggiano

  • Accompaniments:

    cayenne; lime wedges; sea salt
  • Prepare grill for indirect-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium-high heat for gas); see “Grilling Procedure.”
  • Stir together mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup (if using).
  • Pull back husk of each ear of corn, leaving it attached (like a handle), and tie back with a strip of husk. Discard silk.
  • Arrange corn on grill with cobs over coals (or over medium-high heat for gas) and husks over area with no coals (or over turned-off burner for gas). Grill, in batches if necessary, covered only if using a gas grill, turning occasionally, until ears are well-browned and tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Serve corn brushed with mustard mixture and sprinkled with cheese.
Cooks’ note:
    Corn can be cooked in a hot 2-burner grill pan over medium heat; about 15 minutes.

Recipe by Maricel Presilla

Photograph by Gabriele Stabile

Keywords
latino,
vegetarian,
grilling,
gourmet entertains,
maricel presilla

Fiesta Forever

When Maricel Presilla, a restaurateur and major authority on Latin cooking, throws a party, she thinks big. Really big. And since she believes that ‘el barbecue’ can be a key to a culture, we couldn’t pass up the chance to spend a day in her world, with her food. You’re invited, too.