Dried corn is a sweet discovery

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story about John Cope's dried sweet corn in the Feb. 1 Food section incorrectly identified the co-owner of Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Mich. He is Ari Weinzweig.)

John Cope's dried sweet corn is a well-kept secret. But now that it's appearing on one of the top tables in the country, it won't be unknown for long.

For 105 years, Cope's golden yellow caramelized corn has been processed and dried in the same plant in Pennsylvania Dutch country. John Cope began the business in 1900 and was one of the first farmers in Lancaster County to dry corn. Cobs are harvested in the summer from a mixture of super sweet yellow varieties. In the middle of winter, when there's no fresh corn around, this sweet treat tastes like the real thing. Corey Lee, the 27-year-old chef de cuisine of the much lauded The French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, Calif., has been experimenting with the dried sweet corn for a couple of months. He says that executive chef Thomas Keller discovered Cope's at a farmer's market in Pennsylvania and bought some to carry home to California. ''I'm pretty excited about the stuff," says Lee, who is serving deep-fried corn flans.

Once an obscure product is used by someone as visible as a French Laundry chef, it's only a matter of time before more orders begin pouring in to the rural farm town of Rheems in south central Pennsylvania, where the corn is processed.

Gordon Redgate, one of the present co-owners of the John Cope label, says that for the Pennsylvania Dutch, dried sweet corn on the celebration table is as essential as turkey or cranberry sauce. Outside of its region, the product is hard to find. Sweet corn, or corn-on-the-cob corn, has a higher sugar content than other varieties that might be ground into cornmeal. Cope's buys fresh corn early in the season from farmers on the Eastern shore of Maryland; later in the summer they go to farms in Pennsylvania and New York. The corn is harvested at its sweetest. Redgate says that maturity and moisture content are key to ripeness.

From July until late October, ears of corn are cut from the stalk, and while they're still on the cob they're hauled by truck to Rheems. At the plant, the cobs are passed through a husking machine and then through mechanical cutters to pop the kernels off the cob. After the kernels are steamed to seal in flavor, they go in totes to a drying room, where the corn is laid out on perforated stainless steel slabs to dry slowly over forced hot air. The drying process caramelizes the sugars in the corn and gives it a lightly golden brown hue.

In a few hours, the kernels are dry and crisp, ready to be packed in tins and boxes for retail sale (a 7 1/2-ounce tin costs $11.75), or in 25-pound bags for the wholesale and restaurant market. Cope's is available only by phone orders or online. The dried sweet corn can be reconstituted and used in chowders, puddings, and casseroles just like fresh or frozen corn.

Lee, the French Laundry chef, is using Cope's to make a sweet corn flan for a cheese plate. He infuses milk and cream with the dried corn and then uses the liquid to make the custard. To finish, he coats the flan with fine bread crumbs and ground dried corn, then deep fries it to order. On the plate, the flan is served with an aged farmhouse cheddar from Keen's Farm in England and roasted piquillo peppers. Lee says that the corn ''has a great caramel-y sweet flavor, like sweet corn but so much more intense."

At Zingerman's Roadhouse, part of the Zingerman's empire in Ann Arbor, Mich., Cope's corn is served either creamed beside an oak-grilled Niman Ranch pork chop, or made into a corn chowder with applewood smoked bacon. ''The creamed corn is very rich and very delicious in that way where you can eat it all the time," says co-owner Ari Zingerman. Zingerman's also sells boxes of the dried sweet corn online. ''There was a week earlier this winter when we ran out of the dried sweet corn," says Zingerman. ''People were extremely upset. I've never seen people so upset about not being able to order creamed corn. I guess there's just something about it."

To order Cope's dried sweet corn, call 800- 472-8787 or go to www.copefoods.com.