History and trivia about my favorite snack...POPCORN

I love popcorn! I mean I really love popcorn!! A week doesn't go by without it making an appearance at least once or twice in my household. My whole family is the same way, and during family get togethers it is often made every single night. That said, I thought it would be fun to present a brief history and some interesting facts about one of my favorite foods:

-corn is known to be at least 80,000 years old as pollen of this age has been found and is almost indistinguishable from modern corn. Of the many varieties of edible corn, popcorn is thought to be the oldest

-the oldest ears of popcorn are over 5600 years old and were discovered in a New Mexican cave, while researchers found popcorn kernals so well perserved, in Peru that these 1000 year old kernals still popped

-many Native Americans believed that spirits lived in popcorn. These spirits were content to dwell within the corn until heated, when the disgruntled spirit would take his leave causing the corn to explode

-Both Colombus and Cortez observed natives using popcorn (both cobs and popped) as personal adornments, and in use during important religious ceremonies.

-Popcorn was brought by the Indians to be served at the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims

-At that time over 700 varieties, of popcorn, were known to exsist

-Early colonists sometimes served popcorn for breakfast with cream and sugar (the first puffed cearal)

-Native Americans used to pop corn right on the cob by sticking a stick into the end of the cob and holding it over a fire

-some natives also brewed a beer-like drink from popcorn

-and finally, some tribes in Southwestern US created clay vessels 8 feet wide to popcorn for tribal and community events.

 

What a great quote CC!!

 

Has anyone else tried Garetts Popcorn, in Chicago. Bar none, it is the best, store bought popcorn ever. The best is to buy a half and half of caramel corn and cheese corn. I know it sounds weird, but trust me (as a popcorn connissier) it tastes great. The only problem with Garett's is that there is almost always a line, and during the holiday season, with so many tourists in town, that line can stretch for over a block!!

 

Here is a quick recipe for Kettle corn that you can make at home. For those of you who are not familiar with it, kettle corn is a slightly sweetened version of popcorn, that was made popular in the 1700's. It was a treat traditionally saved for after a day of rendering lard. After the lard was poured out, the greased kettle was used to make this treat.

1. Fill your popcorn popper with the recommended amount of popcorn and oil.

2. Add approximately 2-3oz. of sugar (more if you like it sweeter, less if less sweet is more to your taste)

3. Add about 1-2 teaspoons of salt

4. Pop corn according to your popper

5. When finished pour out popcorn and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Never leave this alone while cooking, with that sugar in there it doesn't take much (just a few seconds of not stirring) and you can end up with a blackened mess. I really like this stuff, as it is not as sweet as caramel corn (though I love caramel corn also).

 

You should not soak popcorn in water, it will become too waterlogged. If your popcorn is very old (old?, a bag never lasts more than a few weeks in my house) you can pour it into a jar, add a few tablespoons of water, and seal it for a few days. This will allow it to rehydrate somewhat, giving a fluffier pop. This is what the researchers did when they found the 1000 year old popcorn, before popping it.

Another fun bit about popcorn. One of the earliest methods of popping corn was to throw the kernals onto a large, flat rock that had been heated by a fire. Not only did they get a good snack, but a good workout trying to catch all the popping kernals.

 

Cool article. Thanks Nicko!!