I saw some telltale enlarged white growths on the neighbor’s tiny corn patch.  I recognized it as smut, from my youth in Iowa, a bane of corn farmers.  But I now know it is edible, a delicacy, even.  So I checked my own corn patch, and found several infected ears. 

The original kernel of corn is visible in parts of it, like this outstanding example, larger even than popcorn would be from the same kernel:

Single 'kernel' and full ear.

Some of the infected kernels had burst open, revealing mostly black spores inside, some were only slightly enlarged and firm.  I cleaned and separated the little ‘pods’, added them to some sauteed onions and garlic, with a little salt and pepper:

Yum!

There are many recipes online, it is often eaten in Mexico.  Check your own corn, don’t pass up the chance to turn a loss into a gain!

Research:  Wikipedia: Corn smut (Ustilago maydis) is a pathogenic plant fungus that causes smut disease on maize and teosinte.  Huffington Post:For years, scientists have assumed that huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE) – a gnarly, gray-black corn fungus long-savored in Mexico – had nutritional values similar to those of the corn on which it grew. But test results just published in the journal Food Chemistry reveal that an infection that U.S. farmers and crop scientists have spent millions trying to eradicate, is packed with unique proteins, minerals and other nutritional goodies.