Bloody Butcher Corn

Bloody Butcher Corn

Oil Pastel and gesso on recycled wood

6 1/2 x 3 7/16 x 7/16"

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Every 1st and 3rd Saturday during the winter I will usually go to the indoor farmer's market in Mt. Vernon, IA. I love the drive to Mt. Vernon along Mt. Vernon Rd., it's not too long, but it's pretty and there is one particular abandoned homestead along the way that inspires daydreams about a house, studio, garden, chickens and goats in the country. Mt. Vernon is an incredibly charming town that is also home to the Lincoln Cafe, one of my all-time favorite restaurants. It is among my top four favorite restaurants that we have eaten at in the different cities we have lived in or near including Center Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA, M. Henry's in Chicago, IL, and Chef's Table in Iowa City which is sadly now closed. 

One particular Saturday I met a vendor who was selling bags of ground blue and red cornmeal. He also had a couple of bags of each of the seeds. I was excited about the cornmeal for several reasons and bought some, but I couldn't walk away without getting at least a few of the seeds. They were beautiful. So far I had only been working with the widely available varieties of yellow seeds and was so excited about getting varieties of a different color. Fortunately the vendor was kind enough to give me a few of the red and blue seeds to take home . . . along with a slightly odd look. He told me the red corn is called Bloody Butcher Corn. It has been grown in the U.S. since 1845, most websites say it was grown in Virginia, and is apparently best used for corn meal or flour. 

Upon investigating some of the history of the Bloody Butcher Corn I stumbled across this story of the role of this variety of corn in one family's history.

http://farm2u.org/appalachian-culinary-landscape/food-story/farming/folklore/the-legend-of-the-bloody-butcher-corn/