A gourmet is a person
who is knowledgeable in fine food and drink.
Gourmet Popcorn
During the Great Depression, popcorn at 5 or 10
cents a bag was one of the few luxuries that struggling
families could afford. When other businesses failed,
the popcorn business thrived.
During World War II, sugar was sent overseas for
U.S. troops, which virtually depleted the abundance
of sugar left in the States to make candy. Thanks
to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times
as much popcorn.
Though popcorn probably originated in Mexico, it
was grown in China, Sumatra and India years before
Columbus came to America. in fact A 1,000-year-old
popped kernel of popcorn was found in southwestern
Utah, in a dry cave inhabited by predecessors of the
Pueblo Indians. Many believe the first use of wild
and early-cultivated corn was for popping.
Most popcorn of 8 centuries ago was tough and slender-stalked.
The kernels were also quite resilient. Researchers
have also found grains of popcorn perhaps 1,000 years
old in tombs on the east coast of Peru. These grains
are so well preserved that they will still pop. In
the desert, winds have been known to blow desert sands
from ancient burials, exposing kernels of popped corn
that look fresh and white but are several centuries
old.
The oldest known corn pollen is barely distinguishable
from the modern corn pollen, based upon the 80,000-year-old
fossil found 200 feet below Mexico City.
In 1612, Early French explorers traveling through
the Great Lakes region reported that the Iroquois
popped popcorn in a pottery vessel with heated sand
and used it to make popcorn soup.
Quadequina, brother of the Wampanoag chief Massasoit,
brought a deerskin bag of popped corn to the English
colonists at the first Thanksgiving Feast at Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
Addiitionally the first "puffed" breakfast cereal
eaten by Europeans was popcorn. Colonial housewives
served it with sugar and cream for breakfast.
The first mobile popcorn machine was invented by
Charlie Cretors in 1885. He made poppers that could
be pushed on foot, pulled by horse or mounted on trucks.
Prior to his invention stationary poppers sat in front
of stores to attract attention. The Cretors popper
allowed vendors to be close to the crowds, especially
the crowds near movie theaters.
Percy Spencer, in 1945, discovered that popcorn
placed under microwave energy popped. This led to
other food experiments, and the birth of the microwave
oven.
About the Author:
Francesca Black is a gourmet and freelance writer.
Writing for Gourmet Living http://www.gourmet-living.com
and BBQ Shop http://www.bbq-shop.net
.
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