What is the name of the Mexican corn fungus known as a delicacy?

The Mexican corn fungus known as a delicacy is huitlacoche. It is the edible form of corn smut, a fungal disease caused by Mycosarcoma maydis, formerly called Ustilago maydis.

The fungus infects maize and teosinte, forming swollen blue-black or gray galls around the kernels. In Mexico, cooks harvest the galls while they are still immature, because fully mature specimens become dry and filled with spores. When cooked, huitlacoche develops a dark color and an earthy, mushroom-like flavor with sweet, savory, woody, and sometimes truffle-like notes.

Huitlacoche has deep roots in Mexican food traditions and is commonly used in quesadillas, soups, omelets, tamales, and other tortilla-based dishes. It is sometimes nicknamed the “Mexican truffle,” but it is not a truffle and is biologically a fungus that grows on corn.

The name is also spelled cuitlacoche in some sources and comes from Nahuatl. Although corn smut damages commercial crops, Mexican farmers may deliberately encourage infection because the galls can command a higher price than ordinary corn.