Cornick

Dried corn soaked, dried again and deep-fried until it splits and goes hard.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 500 g dried white corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons salt, for the soak
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt, to finish
• oil, for deep frying

Method

1. SOAKED AND THEN DRIED AGAIN, and both halves are necessary. The soak softens the kernel enough that it will split in the oil instead of staying a pebble. The drying afterwards stops it exploding: a wet kernel in hot oil throws fat across the kitchen.
2. Soak the corn in plenty of cold water with the 2 tablespoons of salt for 24 hours. Twelve is not enough -- the middle of the kernel stays hard and the finished cornick breaks teeth rather than cracking.
3. Drain, then boil it 20 minutes and drain again.
4. Spread it in a single layer on cloths and leave it 3 to 4 hours, turning it once, until the surfaces are dry to the touch. They should look matt, not glossy.
5. Oil to 170C, in a deep pan with a lid to hand.
6. A handful at a time, lowered in a basket. It will bubble hard and some kernels will pop. 6 to 8 minutes, until the bubbling has nearly stopped and the kernels have split open and gone pale gold.
7. Fry the garlic slices separately in the same oil for 1 to 2 minutes at the end, until just gold.
8. Drain in a sieve, then toss with the garlic and the remaining salt while still hot.
9. Cool completely before storing. They harden considerably as they cool, and a cornick that seems soft out of the oil is usually right.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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