A fan of moviegoers and overweight couch potatoes, popcorn captivates the imagination of all those who eat it. With pondering thoughts such as, How?? Why?? For Whom??, popcorn remains the most misunderstand and curious of items sold behind glass at theaters nation-wide. As we sit in wonder, between bulging handfuls being stuffed into our mouths, we think… how can something this amazing, airy, and large come from corn… boring, hard, and tiny. Hopefully, I will be able to unravel the mysteries of the magic popping corn and allow obese children everywhere, of course only those without braces, to eat this miracle food without worry.
Perhaps the first question to dive into is… from where? Contrary to the popular belief that popcorn was given directly by the hand of G-d, it turns out that it actually grows from the earth. The most ancient popcorn kernels and ears ever found (those closest to G-d's birthday) were found in New Mexico in 1948. In a magically place known as The Bat Cave, archeologists discovered what might have been the best thing since sliced bread. (What the best thing was before sliced bread still alludes me…) Using various methods of scientific dating and voodoo magic, these archeologists were able to come up with a range of possible original dates for the magic substance. This is between 1,752 and 5,000… yes, I know… that spans more than all of Roman calendar history. Now that these incredibly accurate and scientific dates have been established, we can follow this mystifying matter from Indian (feather) fires to modern movies theaters.
As I said (if you were listening), popcorn was originally only an enchantment to the Native Americans. They ate popcorn of a few wild varieties. Some of which still can grow wildly today and produce that light and fluffy cholesterol food. However, today, most of the popcorn than you can purchase from your local eatery and grocery, as well as all of that which can be purchased from theaters, is genetically modified to produce the “best” (worst for you, best flavor) kernels. Genetically modified (GM) = strain crossing and such.
Now, all this talk to GM food and messing with “G-d's work” has probably scared you. You might not ever try another delicious morsel again… but wait, aren't you acting just a "lil too hastily? I think so. Let us explore the real health risks of popcorn. It turns the most harmful risk you can undertake by chompin" down on some Redenbacher popcorn is in fact, the risk on choking. If you are unable to handle this basic aspect of eating solid foods, then you should avoid popcorn at all costs. From a health point of view, it turns out that the popcorn kernels themselves are sodium-free, sugar-free, and fat-free… however, the vicious amounts of butter added to the aid the rather bland flavor of plain corn isn't. It is believed that this grungy butter substitute was derived from a material that fell to Earth during the extinction of the dinosaurs. Also, unfortunately, this substance has been shown to contain over two hundred thousand carcinogens. AVOID THE EXTRA BUTTER! On a serious note… the exploding (or imploding, scientists can't truly be sure) action that the popcorn undergoes has been known to cause temporary blindness and could scare small children and animals. Maybe next, we should explore how this deadly exploding mechanism works… Hmmm…
The outer shell of each kernel of corn, popcorn and non, will not allow water to pass through. Because of this, there is a small amount of water trapped in these doldrums in the starch of the corn. The pericarp (the shell of the kernel… I learned a new word!) of the corn is impervious to all things except for great heat and apparently deer. When this great heat is added, at least enough to make the water begin to boil, the steam inside the kernel begins to react amazingly! The extreme heat causes the starch to gelatinize (to make jello-like) and expand. At an exact PSI of 135, the pericarp ruptures (Yes, they can get this information, but they cant learn the real date of the first popcorn… come on scientists… whose job was it to discover this information? How did he measure it? Did he eat some of his subject matter while he worked? We will never know) At this EXACT pressure, the shell ruptures and the gelly-belly starch springs forth, like some minor god from the head of Zeus. The steam's expansion pulls the starch into the air surrounding the kernel and at the same time, infuses some of the air with the starch, making each bite like and fluffy. The foamy starch rapidly cools and sets the proteins and polymers and other “p” words. Thus, we have popped popping popcorn.
That was interesting… but let's think about some more interesting facts. Thank you
Wikipedia
for all the following information.
- Popcorn was first served in theaters in 1912.
- Indiana produces more popcorn than any other US State
- The average popping temperature is 347 F (I'm too last to find the “degree” symbol)
- Well, that was fun. I feel like I know excessively much about popcorn.
