In the central region of Mexico, maize ears with galls resulting from infection by the fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis, known as cuitlacoche, are consumed as a traditional food. In initial experiments (performed in Champaign, Illinois, USA), male-sterile maize varieties were used to evaluate factors affecting controlled production of galls, such as production of inoculum and timing of inoculation in relation to maturity of the ears. Characteristics of the infected ear like husk protection, the weight of the infected ears, severity of infection and quality of galls were also rated in these experiments. In a second set of experiments in Guerrero (Mexico) seven commercial maize varieties were tested and additional agronomic parameters like the phenological characteristics of the inoculated plants (the size of maize ears and the weight of galls) were also recorded. High infection rates were obtained throughout the study by inoculating mixtures of two compatible monosporidial strains of U. maydis with mating type a1b1 and a2b2. In the experiments carried on in Champaign, Illinois, it was stablished that 2 days after silk emergence was the optimum inoculation time, and while the total weight of galls on maize ears ranged from 470 to 735 g/ear, male-sterile varieties 3153RR, 3356BT and 3977 were the highest yielding strains. Furthermore, differences in gall quality and husk protection were observed among male-sterile maize varieties. In the experiments with commercial maize varieties for high altitudes in Pilcaya, Guerrero (Mexico), Aspros 910 and Aspros 722 produced the highest yields (740 and 541 g/ear) with a short growing cycle (73 and 84 days to silk formation) and good gall quality (3.5 cm diameter). These experiments showed that the selection of a maize variety is an important factor for the commercial production of cuitlacoche since it strongly influences ear weight, husk protection, gall quality and the length of the growing cycle.