1. Popcorn is made from kernels of a variety of maize called Zea Mays Everta. Of all the five types of maize, it is the only one that will pop. Because the hulls are moisture proof, when the corn is heated, the water inside becomes highly pressurised steam. When it reaches about 180 degrees Centigrade, explodes with the pop which gives the snack its name. The force created by this mini explosion can propel the popcorn up to 3 feet in the air. The starch and moisture turn to an airy foam, which as it cools turns into the puffy stuff we call popcorn. Flakes of popcorn can be either mushroom shaped, ie more or less spherical, or butterfly shaped, irregular in shape. The latter are more tender to eat, but more fragile, so the mushroom shapes tend to be used when the popcorn has to be packaged and stored. Usually, one cob of corn produces a mixture of the two, although strains have been developed which exclusively produce either one or the other.
2. Pieces of corn which do not pop, thought to be caused by the hull being damaged, or there being insufficient moisture inside to build up enough pressure, are called “old maids”. Up to 2% “old maids” is acceptable in good quality popcorn. 13.5% moisture is thought to be the optimal content which produces the least amount of old maids. The technical term for the amount of corn in a batch which pops is “popability”.
3. Popcorn is quite an ancient foodstuff – there is evidence that it was eaten in Peru as long ago as 4700 BC, and in New Mexico in 3600 BC, where ears of it were found in a cave. Native Americans would make it by holding the whole cob over a fire. It became popular during the great depression of the 1930s, because it was cheap to make or buy; later, when sugar was rationed during World War II, Americans ate it instead of candy.
4. Ridgway, Illinois; Valparaiso, Indiana; Van Buren, Indiana; Schaller, Iowa; Marion, Ohio; and North Loup, Nebraska all claim to be the popcorn capital of the world. Marion has the largest popcorn festival in the world, held in late summer. The largest popcorn museum is also close by. Nebraska and Indiana are the states where popping corn is primarily grown, although Texas has been producing it too in recent times.
5. Popcorn can be made at home – I remember my American cousins making it in a frying pan with a plate on top, when they came to visit. Making it to sell requires a more sophisticated and reliable mechanism, however. A Chicago man named Charles Cretors invented the first commercial popcorn making machine in 1885. Two parts of lard to one part clarified butter and some salt was added to the corn. A fired boiler created the heat and also steam to drive an engine to agitate the corn so it would pop evenly and could also be used to keep the popped corn warm; and while he was at it, Cretors added a mechanical clown called the Toasty Roasty Man, and a whistle, which helped attract customers to his stand. In China, popcorn is sometimes made by pouring corn into a cast iron pot and heating it while turning. When it reaches the right temperature and pressure the cannister is opened and all the corn kernels pop at once. In 1945, Perry Spencer observed that corn would pop when exposed to microwaves, which led to the development of microwave ovens, so it could be said that popping corn was what microwave ovens were made for!
6. There are a number of world records associated with popcorn. The world's largest popcorn ball was unveiled in October 2006 in Lake Forest, Illinois. It weighed 3,415 pounds (1,549 kg), measured 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter, and had a circumference of 24.6 ft (7.5 m). The largest box of popcorn ever was 52.59m³ (1857 ft³) in volume was filled in just under two hours at an event outside Avenue Mall in Osijek, Croatia, on 16 April 2011. The largest tub of Popcorn ever was made and filled on 9th November 2000 in Leicester Square in London. The tub of popcorn was 3.6 metres high x 3.3 metres wide. There are also records relating to eating lots of popcorn very quickly or catching it in the mouth. Perhaps the best known popcorn record is the 70s number one hit by Hot Butter.
7. Popcorn is best known as the nibble of choice when watching a film in a cinema and many people associate the smell of popcorn with cinema-going. In the US, 17 million quarts of the stuff is consumed each year, enough to fill the Empire State Building 18 times.
8. It can be eaten as a breakfast cereal, too, and as a party snack. The most common flavours are salt or caramel, but there are other variations. Sweet and salt, wasabi, chocolate, cheese and curry flavours are not unknown. In 2013 it was announced that wine flavoured popcorn was now available, but didn't come cheap at $35 for a gallon tin. You'd be better off, opined the Daily Mail, buying regular popcorn and dipping it in your drink.
9. Without any additives, it is a very healthy snack, containing fibre, vitamins, protein and iron, and pure, naked popcorn won't give you cancer; but the flavouring and additives, largely sugar and fats, can often make it much less healthy.
10. There are other uses for popcorn as well as eating it. In some parts it is threaded onto string to make Christmas decorations, and has been used as a biodegradable packing material, in place of polystyrene. The disadvantage of this is that, being a foodstuff, it can attract animals which regard it as a tasty snack.
Photo by msgohan.
No comments:
Post a Comment