Sweetcorn cobs are one of my favourite ingredients to cook en Papillote. The first step which must not be neglected is a part boiling of about 10 minutes of the cobs. During that step to impart flavour you can put in the water either a pinch of good sea salt or a stock cube of your choice. Myself I tend to go for a vegetable stock, or one which will go with the meat the cobs are going to be served with: Beef stock for steaks, lamb stock for lamb or chicken for chicken kebabs.

Once boiled drain the pan and retrieve the cobs. Don't burn yourself be careful and use a kitchen ustensil like a pair of tongue.  It is better to be safe than sorry or even to brag to have abestos hands when in fact we are not wonder woman or superman. Safety comes first. Now that part boiling part is essential to cook thoroughly the sweetcorn cobs.

Sweetcorn cobs in its husk. 

The second step is relatively easy and as I usually say it is done to your own taste buds. You are the maker, the doer, the creator of your meal.  Lay a piece of foil or grease proof paper. It should be enough to wrap up individually each cobs like little BonBon parcels. Don't put them all in a giant parcel, only one cob by parcel, it gives more flavour to the sweetcorn.

Then creativity goes in. The magic potion's ingredients to make the cob sing the gob'spell in your mouth. By personal taste, I put in each of my parcels a little knob of salted butter. Then depending on the style of the dish they will go with, I change the herbs and spicing.

I tend to do my sweetcorn en Papillote in late Spring, Summer and early Autumn. If I wrap it all up in a couple of words I would say the BBQ season. 

Going back to the spicing, if my cobs are going with grilled beef steak as an accompaniement, I like to put ground/crushed black perpercorns, some chopped parsley and chopped garlic in the parcel. So I do keep it rather simple.

 Grilled Rump Steak with a side of Sweetcorn Cobs. Nice Summer dish. Simple.

For lamb I always have two options in my mind, either I am going in a slightly British way, either I am going in a sort of North African way. For the English way the parcel will contain some chopped mint, a little chopped chive,  black pepper crushed and some garlic salt. For the North African way, it is spicier, a pinch of Cayenne pepper, a good pinch of Paprika (smoked or unsmoked), a chopped chilli (the way you like it, seeds or no seeds, and the kind you can stand the level of heat), a little garlic sea salt, chopped Coriander and Mint.

Dried Chillies infuse the parcel with a little heat, you can chop them up or keep them whole for a milder warmth in your mouth. One or two will suffice in a parcel.

To be a companion for chicken, I like it either mild or very spicy. I would say it depends on the day or your mood. That combination which I usually use is in a mediterranean style.  I do little kebabs of chicken breast, courgettes, small tomatoes, red onions and serve them with chopped garlic, chopped parsley and oregano, chopped sweet pepper, paprika in the sweetcorn parcel. Of course season as you like it.