Its no lie that one of the best crunchy foods in the world is.... CORN NUTS!!!
They are teeth breaking hard, usually can only be found at gas stations, and make your breath smell... but I love them. They invoke a simpler time of child hood always being on long car rides.
Albert Holloway invented corn nuts in 1936. He originally sold them to tavern owners to be given away free to their patrons as a snack that would be great with beer, calling them Brown Jug Toasted Corn. He was right.
Corn nuts are prepared by soaking whole corn kernels in water for three days, then deep-frying them in oil until they are hard and brittle. The kernels are soaked because they shrink during the harvesting and cleaning process, and rehydration returns them to their original size. They are currently available in eight flavors: Original, Barbecue, Nacho Cheese, Chile Picante, Caliente Mix, Lime and Ranch, Chorizo Chipotle(which I have not found yet)
I had the hardest time finding them this week as I was preparing this blog... so I went to the only place I knew. The Marathon staion had a few so I just had to get some. The taste has still not changed, and they were as crunchy as ever. I was happy until the bag was empty so the search was on for more.
Meijer, Target, Jewel and WalMart were no-gos and the dissapointment was setting in because all I wanted were some damn corn nuts! Today (saturday)I was out at a Target in St. Charles with my six-month-old getting him his puffy snacks that he has developed a strong addiction to. I decided to check out their snack isle and lo and behold on the bottom shelf under the Jerky was my holy grail of the week MY MFing CORN NUTS!!!! (yes I was excited)
As I put them in the cart, my son grabbed a bag and started gnawing on the bag... I was so proud of him at that moment. We have bonded over the crunchy treat that I will gladly share with him when he actually has teeth.
