# Is corn on the cob commonly eaten in any other countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451 "2012-04-01T06:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/21 "2012-04-01T16:44:16Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > They have it in Cameroon, but it’s not sweet corn, and tends to be fairly chewy and flavorless. The times I’ve had Mexican corn it, too, was a lot starchier, more dense, and less sweet than what you’d expect in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/22 "2012-04-01T17:16:22Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > It’s eaten in western Europe too. It wasn’t very common years ago. In fact, you could pretty much only find silage corn. Germans thought it was odd that we Americans ate it, but they really didn’t grow sweet corn much, as I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/23 "2012-04-01T17:35:37Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > And in India. With a ‘secret spice’ rub - generally of lime, salt and chilli powder. Yup. And in some upscale urban Indian markets nowadays, the readymade snack foods counter will sell “American style” corn on the cob, which I’ve never tried in India but which I presume approximates the typical American boiled-buttered-and-salted form. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/24 "2012-04-01T18:27:21Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > Same in China. There are vendors on the street who sell it but it’s more of a novelty/fair food, like cotton candy or something. Never heard of anyone buying a bunch of corn cobs and steaming them at home for dinner or anything like that. I have a Chinese friend who would eat boiled/steamed corn on the cob for breakfast. I guess that’s not really any different from corn grits, but it seemed…wrong somehow. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/25 "2012-04-02T02:10:01Z")
I watched an episode of _Kitchen Nightmares_ last night with a Jamaican restaurant, and when Ramsay put grilled corn on the cob on the menu, no one said “that’s not Jamaican.” So I guess Jamaica. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/26 "2012-04-02T02:25:27Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Its a commonly sold by roadside vendor in Pakistan. They are either cooked over an open fire or heated and have chillies powder and lemon placed on them. > [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > And in India. With a ‘secret spice’ rub - generally of lime, salt and chilli powder. From memory, Thai corn on the cob had basil and chilli. In some parts of India, the cob is cooked by putting it directly in hot coals, causing varying degrees of burntness amongst the kernels. The occasional burnt or chewy kernel adds a fantastic texture. In Bengal, it is often flavored with mustard seed oil and salt, rather than lime and chili powder. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/27 "2012-04-02T04:21:10Z")
Very common here in Thailand, in fact some vendors ride through the neighborhoods selling it. Although I haven’t yet seen any locals put butter, salt and pepper on it like we tend to do in the west. My inlaws buy it for me because they like to watch me eat it out of my [specially shaped corn dishes](http://www.alacook.co.uk/media/images/product_detail/Corn_Dish_T192_lrg.jpg) and using corn holders. Apparently it’s impossible for me to eat cotc without making an amusing spectacle of myself. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/28 "2012-04-02T04:25:14Z")
Field corn is god awful, I hope people who are eating that are doing it because the alternative is starvation and not because they think that is good corn. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/29 "2012-04-02T04:30:26Z")
It’s been commonly eaten in the UK since at least the 1960s (although I don’t recall it being sold in the 50s). ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/30 "2012-04-02T04:36:21Z")
Singapore also… and we have the truely horrible sweetcorn icecream…☹ ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/31 "2012-04-02T05:31:51Z")
I wonder about North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/32 "2012-04-02T06:18:26Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Singapore also.. > > and we have the truely horrible sweetcorn icecream…☹ Yeah, but you also have the “Cup of Corn” kiosks that sell a little cup of corn with butter and salt that is the perfect street food. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/33 "2012-04-02T06:33:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It wasn’t very common years ago. In fact, you could pretty much only find silage corn. Germans thought it was odd that we Americans ate it, but they really didn’t grow sweet corn much, as I remember. And the corn I’ve seen on the cob in Spain wasn’t the same as the American one, and also the idea is a recent import. That’s one of the problems with copying things from movies, or brought over by people who were there for a few months as a teenager: details such as which actual variety of corn should be used fall down the wayside. **Martin Hyde** , people here are eating corn on the cob (whichever variety is being offered) to give it a try because they’ve seen it in the movies; also, keep in mind that most of the world doesn’t have anywhere near as much of a sweet tooth as Americans do. I’ve seen people slathering corn on the cob with mustard or salty butter (sweet butter being considered too sweet for that), or deciding that the cob could go to hell, peeling the corn off and adding tomato sauce (there’s a school of cooking here which reckons there ain’t no dish tomato sauce can’t fix). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/34 "2012-04-02T07:24:29Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > So where is it not eaten? I’ve heard (here on the SDMB I think) that it is not highly regarded in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/35 "2012-04-02T07:32:20Z")
Not commonly eaten in France. Although for the last ten years or so, during winter, street vendors have been proposing corn along with/instead of the more traditionnal grilled chesnuts. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/36 "2012-04-02T08:33:35Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah, but you also have the “Cup of Corn” kiosks that sell a little cup of corn with butter and salt that is the perfect street food. I don’t eat it personally - but I do eat the totally delicious mee tai mak (a warm gelatin peanut flavoured sweet) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/37 "2012-04-02T08:37:10Z")
You should try Cup of Corn, it cost like 50 cents. There is a kiosk on the water over by the Makan Sutra food court (also you should try the carrot cake at the Makan Sutra food court). ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/38 "2012-04-02T09:13:05Z")
Corn on the cob is not common in the Netherlands. Produce stores sell raw corn. But street vendors and fast food stores don’t sell it as a snack. It is a rare side dish in restaurants, and only those with an American oriented kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/39 "2012-04-02T09:47:57Z")
Here in China, at work in the company canteen we’re sometimes served slices of corn on the cob. They’re usually about two to three inches long, and I can’t tell if they’ve been steamed or boiled or cooked in oil. Additionally I see whole corn on the cob (already shucked) in the supermarket, both fresh and frozen. Presumably someone is buying it and consuming it. If I can ever find the right gas connector for my (American) grill, I may buy some and see how good it is. Interestingly, it is sweet corn, like in the USA. In many other foreign countries, the corn is always the non-sweet stuff. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451/40 "2012-04-02T09:56:37Z")
In Trinidad & Tobago corn on the cob is available at every grocery either fresh, or preserved in a vacuum bag. There are street vendors that sell roasted corn on the cob, your choice of sauces and toppings. There are also street vendors selling corn soup, which has cut up sections of corn still on the cob in it. Look for a cart with portable gas burners and giant metal pots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-corn-on-the-cob-commonly-eaten-in-any-other-countries/617451.md?page=3)