When I think of corn, I remember some of the sweetest corn I have ever had, the butter-and-sugar corn I grew up eating on Eastern Long Island, N.Y. Long Island as portrayed in popular culture is often associated with big hair and malls. But the Long Island where I come from, the North Shore of Eastern Long Island, is reminiscent of New England geographically and culturally. When I grew up there, it was still rural, with potato farms, strawberry fields and peach orchards scattered around. Many towns in the area are named for Native American tribes who were the region's earliest settlers: Setauket, Ronkonkoma, Patchogue, Hauppauge. I grew up in the village of Wading River, whose name is actually a loose translation of Pauquaconsuk, meaning "the place where we wade for thick, round-shelled clams." Records show that the first non-native settlement of Wading River was in 1671.


More...