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At the movies, at the stadium, at the fair and probably in your pantry … it’s popcorn! Americans consume 16 billion quarts of popped popcorn annually (or a hefty 54 quarts per man, woman and child). Despite its popularity in public places (I’ve been handed free popcorn at countless festivals and even some bars!) approximately 70% of this crisp corn concession is eaten in the home.
• Popcorn may seem like a contemporary food, but nothing could be further from the truth. Archeologists have found grains of popcorn 1,000 years old along the east coast of Peru, as well as 80,000-year-old fossilized corn pollen buried 200 feet below Mexico City. Popcorn is believed to have originated in Mexico, but is also known to have grown in China, Sumatra, and India. For a more comprehensive history of popcorn, check this out.
• The secret to how popcorn pops is as simple as water. Each kernel contains a small amount of water stored in a circle of soft starch inside the hard outer casing. When heated to around 450 degrees, the moisture turns to steam, creating pressure within. As the pressure builds, the casing eventually gives way, and the kernel explodes and pops, allowing the water to escape as steam and turning the kernel inside out. This messy process can be thwarted in part thanks to products such as Jiffy Pop, introduced as early as 1958.
• We’ve established that Americans are big fans of popcorn, but American consumption actually managed to triple during World War II (where popcorn was lauded as a great non-sugary snack alternative). Of course, popcorn has always been popular at the movies, thanks to Samuel Rubin, who helped bring the all-important fresh smell of fresh popcorn to theaters (whereas before it was shipped post-pop).
• Still, taste is paramount. Surprisingly (to me, anyway), the flavor of Buttered Popcorn was the number one JellyBelly flavor from 1998 to 2003, finally giving up the gold to Very Cherry, the perennial favorite.
• If you’re in the Indiana area, you may consider dropping into the Popcorn Festival, which takes place in the hometown of Orville Redenbacher. It boasts free popcorn for all! (plus a really festive website). There’s also another famous Popcorn Fest in Ohio.
• Popcorn may be tasty to eat, but it has other interesting uses as well. For instance, as a packing material. The article may be from 1990, but its concepts seem rather apropos for people looking to go green or save a few bucks today!
• You all are probably familiar with Christmas tree decorations made from popcorn (or why not a strand for the Hanukkah bush?), but popcorn can also make for pretty nifty art, too.
• And, may wonders never cease, popcorn can also be used as an amusing prop for a touchdown routine, as Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys proved last year.
How do you Flossers like your popcorn? Plain, buttered, dressed up like Cracker Jacks, or sweet like kettle corn? If you make any tasty homemade toppings, feel free to share them below!
Hungry for more? Venture into the Dietribes archive.
‘Dietribes’ appears every other Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.
Shhh…super secret special for blog readers.
Comments (25)
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I LOVE to dip my popcorn in equal parts of mustard and ketchup mixed together! it is awesome. People always give me odd looks when I do this. But it is worth it.
posted by Alexandra on 7-23-2008 at 1:01 pm
I like my popcorn with melted butter and cinnamon sugar, or with grated parmesan cheese with melted butter and cinnamon sugar, or with grated parmesan cheese.
posted by K-T on 7-23-2008 at 1:02 pm
Kettle Korn is just…odd. It’s hardly sweet at all, so you’re not sure if it’s supposed to be sweet, but didn’t really make it. Or if it’s supposed to be salty, but that’s not right either. Plus spelling it with Ks drives me nuts!
Our family has a great caramel corn recipe that we love. It’s chewy and buttery, not tooth-sticking. Yummo!
posted by Rachel on 7-23-2008 at 1:32 pm
I can’t believe Buttered Popcorn isn’t the #1 Jelly-Belly flavor! My boyfriend always looks at me funny when I start picking these out of the box, but I can’t help it. They are absolutely the next best thing to actually having a huge tub of messy, buttery, movie theater-style popcorn right in front of you. The taste is so authentic, it’s almost unreal.
posted by bas on 7-23-2008 at 1:39 pm
air-popped with Louisiana Hot Sauce sprinkled ALL over it. Tabasco or Cholula will work in a pinch, but LHS is the best.
it’s also good air-popped with parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers.
can you tell we like it spicy in our house???
posted by renis on 7-23-2008 at 1:48 pm
Growing up in the summers, me and my 2 best friends would go to the movies every friday. i would order popcorn and a BIG coke and my friends would get the nachos with peppers and goobers and we would mix everything together. THe popcorn was great with the sweet goobers and the salty nacho chips and cheese and the spicy peppers. Then of course on the way home we would spilt a box of DOTS to get the popcorn out of our teeth.
posted by Jennifer on 7-23-2008 at 1:49 pm
when you first open the steaming bag of popcorn from the microwave…dump in a roll of rollos…and close up the bag for a few minutes…the steam will melt the chocolate and caramel all over the popcorn…way way way yummy…
posted by mary on 7-23-2008 at 1:50 pm
At the movies my favorite thing to do is to buy a box of Hot Tamales and a tube of popcorn, and eat a Tamale and a few kernels simultaneously. Salty, sweet, hot, buttery – the BEST.
posted by Laura M. on 7-23-2008 at 1:52 pm
Kraft used to sell a shaker container filled with the same orange cheese powder that comes with Mac ‘N Cheese. I used to sprinkle it on popcorn, and it was simply delicious. Sadly, I can’t find the cheese in the stores in that form anymore.
posted by Craig on 7-23-2008 at 2:30 pm
My favorite is the plain popcorn (not a butter fan) with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top–yum! I’m guessing I eat well below the 54 gal/yr average though. I really don’t care for popcorn that often.
@Craig–My boyfriend had the hardest time finding the cheese powder, but one day it just showed up on the store shelves here in San Antonio. Maybe you’ll get lucky too.
posted by nutmeag on 7-23-2008 at 3:41 pm
I like popcorn any way, any place, any time. Sadly, I am in fact allergic to popcorn – all corn and corn products, really, but popcorn is especially reactive. If I eat more than a couple handfuls, or if I neglect to immediately follow those handfuls with about 24 ounces of water, I get a pounding headache and nasal congestion. It’s just as well, really, because if I wasn’t allergic I’d be cramming popcorn down my gullet all day at work, and then none of my pants would fit.
posted by Joanna on 7-23-2008 at 3:42 pm
I am a huge fan of the butter/salt/nutritional yeast combo.
posted by kellie on 7-23-2008 at 3:47 pm
Corn (aka maize) is native to the Americas and was not “discovered” by the rest of the world until the late 15th Century. While corn maybe grown in these area now, they were not introduced to it until, at the earliest, the early 1500s.
posted by Florida on 7-23-2008 at 4:10 pm
Cool article… 2 things:
1. The Jelly Belly buttered popcorn flavor is one of the worst things I’ve ever put in my mouth.
2. Kettle corn is amazing.
Josh
posted by Josh on 7-23-2008 at 4:27 pm
nothing beats reese’s pieces thrown in a big bag of steamy hot buttery popcorn
posted by WarTiger on 7-23-2008 at 4:30 pm
I worked at a popcorn shop in high school, and therefore had a highly amusing time making horrible creations – the most delicious of which was white cheddar topped with the buttery topping (which basically means ‘weird yellow oil that is not butter’). The sight of coconut oil still makes me salivate.
posted by Kate on 7-23-2008 at 5:53 pm
They had this flavor of popcorn in stores for a while, Orville Redenbacher’s brand. It was Cinnabon popcorn. You made the popcorn then drizzled on a packet of this sugary frosting. Delicious!
posted by Reggie on 7-23-2008 at 5:55 pm
Orville Redenbacher has a cheese flavored microwave popcorn that is a bowl of greasy, oily goodness. The popcorn has cheese flavoring in the bag, and then it comes with a big pouch of pour-over cheese topping. I’ve been known to lick the bowl afterward. It’s fantastic.
posted by Lisa on 7-23-2008 at 7:07 pm
Mmmm…I’m on a diet, so air popped popcorn with seasoned salt is a delicious low fat treat :).
When I lived in England as a child, we used to go to local fairs that served popcorn with sugar on it…I remember thinking it was weird but tasty. I think I first heard of Kettle Corn was when I was in high school in Ohio…prior to that I wasn’t aware that we had sweet popcorn other than Cracker Jack and the like here in America…
posted by Brandy on 7-23-2008 at 7:37 pm
When I was in college there were these 2 sisters in my dorm who were roommates. By the end of the quarter they’d run out of food money so they would have to improvise for nourishment. Many, many days I saw them pop a fresh pot of pop corn (old school way on a stove with a big pot and vegetable oil) and eat it like cereal in a bowl with stolen sugar packets and milk. I’ve thought about trying it for 30 years. If you do let me know…
posted by Billy on 7-23-2008 at 9:28 pm
How coincidental, I’m munching on popcorn right now!
I have lots of favorite popcorn flavors, but the greatest form of it has to be fresh kettle corn. Every year whenever there’s some kind of street fair there’s always a vendor selling fresh-made kettle corn (that microwave-pop stuff is just nasty).
I generally like it lightly salted and buttered, not too much since I can’t stand the fake butter/chemical/evil voodoo they use. When I make my own (which is the best kind in my opinion) I like to add some paprika or chili powder to add a little flavor or some mochi crunch, which is baked seasoned rice crackers that are absolutely perfect with popcorn. In Hawaii, they have a delicious snack called hurricane popcorn that is essentially popcorn drizzled with butter, nori bits and mochi crunch. Delicious! (just make sure to add the butter AFTER the seaweed bits or things get messy lol)
heh. my recaptcha says ’surely no’
posted by heather on 7-24-2008 at 1:32 am
Billy, I saw that cereal thing too, on Good Eats. Alton said to use popcorn as cereal the next day. Wouldn’t it be stale by then?
I also need to pop popcorn on the stove. Microwave will no longer do.
posted by cavvy on 7-24-2008 at 1:47 am
i love orville redenbacher’s natural buttery salt and cracked pepper popcorn!! i tried it on a whim last year and everyone i’ve given it to since shares my love. seriously, go out and buy some. it’s sold in mini, single serving bags so it’s perfect for a quick treat and there isn’t enough for you to really overdo it.
posted by tami on 7-24-2008 at 8:42 am
I go to Valparaiso University, which is Orville’s hometown and where the popcorn fest is held. I’ve been there twice now, and it is the most fun you can possibly have based on one food. There’s a parade with a Popcorn Queen, and it’s usually only townies and students who attend, which makes for a fun and very causal crowd. It’s AWESOME.
Of course, I might be biased…I am a HUGE popcorn fan.
Once at a sleepover, my friends and I had just put on looong fake nails, and we ate popcorn with parmesan on top, and at the end we scooped up all the cheese with our nails. Kind of gross, now that I think about it.
posted by Liz on 7-24-2008 at 9:01 am
popcorn is the thing that I miss the most since living on my boat (no microwave) I have been thinking about making it in a pot on my alcohol stove I figure I’ll just catch it on fire, I’ll let you know how it goes.
posted by hannah on 7-24-2008 at 9:57 am