Corn
<p >Maize is the most widely grown grain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop" title="Crop" >crop</a> in the Americas,<sup id="cite_ref-FAOstats_1-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn#cite_note-FAOstats-1" >[2]</a></sup> with 332 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonne" title="Tonne" >metric tons</a> grown annually in the United States alone. Approximately 40% of the crop — 130 million tons — is used for corn ethanol.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_maize" title="Transgenic maize" class="mw-redirect" >Transgenic maize</a>(genetically modified corn) made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-GMOCompass_3-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn#cite_note-GMOCompass-3" >[4]</a></sup> While some natural strains of maize can grow 12 metres (39 ft) tall,<sup id="cite_ref-jkarlmaize.wordpress.com_4-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn#cite_note-jkarlmaize.wordpress.com-4" >[5]</a></sup> most commercially grown maize has been bred for a standardized height of 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). Sweet corn is usually shorter than field corn varieties.</p>
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Maize is a major source of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch" title="Starch" >starch</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornstarch" title="Cornstarch" class="mw-redirect" >Cornstarch</a> (maize flour) is a major ingredient in home cooking and in many industrialized food products. Maize is also a major source of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_oil" title="Cooking oil" >cooking oil</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_oil" title="Corn oil" >corn oil</a>) and of maize gluten. Maize starch can be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis" title="Hydrolysis" >hydrolyzed</a> and enzymatically treated to produce syrups, particularly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup" title="High-fructose corn syrup" >high-fructose corn syrup</a>, a sweetener; and also fermented and distilled to produce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_alcohol" title="Grain alcohol" class="mw-redirect" >grain alcohol</a>. Grain alcohol from maize is traditionally the source of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey" title="Bourbon whiskey" >Bourbon whiskey</a>. Maize is sometimes used as the starch source for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer" title="Beer" >beer</a>. Within the United States, the usage of maize for human consumption constitutes about 1/40th of the amount of grown in the country. In the United States and Canada, maize is mostly grown to feed for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock" title="Livestock" >livestock</a>, as forage, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silage" title="Silage" >silage</a> (made by fermentation of chopped green cornstalks), or grain. Maize meal is also a significant ingredient of some commercial animal food products, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_food" title="Dog food" >dog food</a>.
Maize is also used as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait_(luring_substance)" title="Bait (luring substance)" >fish bait</a>, called "dough balls". It is particularly popular in Europe for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coarse_fishing" title="Coarse fishing" >coarse fishing</a>.</p>
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Why put sugar in water when boiling corn?
The whole point of sweet corn — and it's essentially what separates us from the livestock that consumes much of the "dent" or field corn grown in this country (that and the whole cud thing) — is its sweetness. And if you've eaten much corn, you know that that sweetness can be a little unpredictable.
In the days before supersweet and sugar-enhanced corn varieties became widely available, adding a few tablespoons of sugar to the cooking water provided a little extra sweetness to the corn. And since no one these days knows whether the corn they've purchased is an enhanced variety or a traditional variety of sweet corn, many people still add sugar to the pot.
Some people find a combination of sugar and a supersweet variety to taste artificially sweet, so you may want to test-cook one ear before committing to a whole pot of doubly sweet corn.</p>
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Shirley Corriher, a wonderful Southern cook with a great appreciation for flavor (and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0688102298?tag=ochefcom-20&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=0688102298&creative=373489&camp=211189" ><i>Cookwise</i></a>), sweetens her boiling water with a third of a cup of honey.</p>