The Way They Do Their Corn

I don’t think they could have possibly been as happy to see me, as I was to see them.  The women running the grilled corn stand at the Brooklyn Flea never, ever want for customers, but I really, really want their corn.  This winter the market moved indoors to DUMBO but there was no place for the Red Hook Vendors among the jaded hipsters walking their architectural dogs.  That made the open air return of the Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School location in Fort Greene that much sweeter.  I’d heard about the fresh grilled corn slathered in Mexican crema and cotija cheese and topped with chile when some friends, who insisted it was Cuban, kept asking me where they could find it.  It’s actually a Mexican preparation that I finally tried last year.  I’ve been daydreaming about it since April, knowing that soon I’d be back on steps of the high school enjoying the first corn of the summer.  I noticed today that this is also the best place to watch the vendors at work.  Perfectly preparing each one with just the right amount of cheese and chili powder, calmly facing the long lines that never end.