Basque Grand Roux Corn

Native to the Basque Country and also known there as Arto Gorria, Grand Roux corn has a long and unusual history. The variety began to spread through the northern regions of the zone during the 16th century, becoming a staple in the local diet and culture of the rural Basque populations. Often grown intercropped with beans, it was used to feed animals and in cornbread, a polenta-like porridge and talo (in the absence of ovens for baking bread up in the mountains, the shepherds would cook these round, unleavened flatbreads directly over the embers).
After being almost completely abandoned at the start of the 20th century, when the local farmers began sowing more productive American varieties, Grand Roux corn reappeared in the French Basque Country in the 1990s. The story goes that in the early ’90s a farmer found the corn growing in a convent in the southern Basque Country (i.e. Spain), carried a few ears home with him in his beret and began cultivating the variety. Gradually it spread around the countryside and other Basque Grand Roux seeds, long preserved by elderly farmers in their small plots, began to be exchanged again.
Growers have been cultivating the variety ever since, carefully reproducing the seeds. The corn is appreciated for its excellent sensory qualities. The ears are still many different colors—yellow, red, orange, brown—because the selection necessary to obtain pure seeds is still underway. This lengthy process will require several more years before it is completed. Ground into cornmeal, Grand Roux is used in many dishes. Recently, with the rise of food intolerances, this corn has also begun to be used to make gluten-free products.