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The high sugar content gives sweetcorn its name and differentiates it from other types of corn, such as field maize and popcorn.

Sweetcorn is grown all around Australia, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland. Although most of us think of it as a vegetable (it is the tenth most popular vegie in Australia), sweetcorn is actually a grain.

Baby corn is harvested and processed by hand from cobs while very young – that’s why it’s relatively expensive. 

Nutrition notes

Sweetcorn contains beta carotene, which the body turns into vitamin A, Vitamin B3 for healthy nervous and digestive systems, vitamin C and folic acid. The average cob of corn provides around 150 calories and the dietary fibre in sweetcorn means that it is pretty filling too.

Buying

Look for cobs with a fresh, bright green husk, with fine, silky threads. Kernels should be plump and tightly packed. If you want young corn, check that the kernels are smaller at the tip than they are in the middle. If you’re buying corn from a market get up and out early, because if corn sits in warm temperatures the sugars turn into starch and it doesn't taste quite as sweet.

Storing

If you like your corn sweet, buy it on the day that you want to eat it and keep it cool. If you plan to keep it for more than a day, try parboiling cobs for a minute or so to help slow down the conversion of sugars into starch, then place in the fridge or freeze it. 

Preparing

To remove kernels from a cob of corn, trim the wider end to produce a flat surface. Stand the corn vertically on the flat end and cut down the length of the cob. Turn the cob and repeat until all the kernels have been stripped off. This is easier to do after the corn is cooked.

To cook, boil in unsalted water for 3-10 minutes; it will be cooked when you can easily remove a kernel from the cob. Don’t add salt to the boiling water as this toughens the kernels. Alternatively, try barbecuing for about 15 minutes until slightly charred.

Enjoying

• Add cooked sweetcorn to mashed potatoes, pasta, rice dishes, meat dishes, salads and stir-frys.
• For a tasty soup for four, sauté a sliced onion in a little olive oil with two crushed garlic cloves and half a teaspoon of curry powder. Add the kernels from a cob of corn and 600ml of hot chicken or vegetable stock, plus two cooked, sliced chicken breasts. Cover and simmer for twenty minutes and allow the soup to cool slightly before whizzing in a blender. Just before serving, add lemon juice, plus chopped fresh coriander and freshly ground black pepper. Don’t like chicken? Use crabmeat or prawns instead. Alternatively, make it vegetarian by using mixed vegetables and vegetable stock.
• Make a zesty corn salsa by mixing cooked sweetcorn with chopped tomatoes, lime juice, salt, chilli powder and chopped coriander leaves.
• If you love Asian flavours, marinate discs of fresh corn in chilli, ground coriander and ground turmeric (one pinch each), a clove of crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon tomato purée and 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and fresh lime juice. After half an hour, the corn is ready to oven bake or barbecue.