Braaied sweetcorn with mayo

“One of my original food nerd friends, Nikki Werner, introduced me to this as ‘Cuban corn cobs’ and years later I realised it is a version of the Mexican street dish elotes, just with mayo replacing the cheese sauce. It is pure party-food theatre (a.k.a. the messiest thing you’ll ever eat), but people will never forget it. I love making this in summer as a braai starter.” – Kate Wilson

1. Prepare the braai. Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil and add the sweetcorn. Cook until just tender.

2. Spread the mayonnaise on a plate, tip the chilli flakes onto another plate and spread the grated Parmesan on a third plate. (You could also replace the chilli flakes with chilli-and-lime salt, which means you could eliminate the limes.)

3. When the coals are ready, grill the sweetcorn until just charred and smoky.

4. Pile onto a plate and give the following instructions to your guests: rub one sweetcorn cob with half a lime or squeeze it all over the cob (don’t skip this step, it’s important for the flavours and helps the chilli to stick).

5. Roll the lime- moistened cob in the chilli flakes, then in the mayonnaise and finally in the grated Parmesan. Enjoy with a pile of napkins and an ice-cold Corona!

Cook's note: For a more genteel version, make Mexican esquites, where the corn is served off the cob and dressed with the cheese, chilli and mayo.

Find more corn recipes here. 

Photographs: Jan Ras 
Production: Abigail Donnelly and Kate Wilson
Food assistants: Emma Nkunzana and Josh Van Zyl