Daniel

//__POPCORN__ //



**The History of Popcorn**  Thousands of years ago, popcorn was discovered by Native Americans. One of the first things Christopher Columbus saw in San Salvador was Indians selling, trading, and wearing popcorn as jewelery! The oldest sample of popcorn was found in a cave in New Mexico. The kernels were more than 5,000 years old! Native Americans used many ways to cook popcorn. They used to put a stick over the fire with a ear of popcorn on it to pop it. This method didn't work out as well because lots of the kernels were lost in the fire. A different way was to toss handfuls of popcorn into the fire and collecting them off of the ground. The Iroquois would have clay pots, fill them with hot sand, and would toss in some popcorn seeds. They would stir the mixture with a stick, and the popcorn would pop. Once they would pop, they would rise to the top of the clay pot, making it easy to collect. The Iroquois would sometimes even cook popcorn soup.

Just plain corn doesn't pop, it need's to be a popcorn cob. The popcorn kernel's center has moisture in it along with a shell made up of starch that is very hard. Once the kernel gets heated past a certain point, the moisture is no longer itself, but steam. Once a lot of steam builds up, the kernel explodes, turning the kernel inside out. Native Americans believed that an angry god was stuck inside the kernel. It was told that he got so mad he escaped the kernel, and when he did, he made a popping sound. **
 * How Does Popcorn Pop? **
 * Ways to Cook Popcorn **

There are many ways to cook popcorn. Here are a few ways:

Microwave Kettle Popcorn Machine (Movie Theater) Air Popper

Microwave popcorn comes in bags that expand themselves in the microwave. In most types of microwave popcorn, butter is included. The butter is inside the bag, and when it melts, it coats the cooked popcorn.  Kettle corn is sweet, but still a little salty, yet not as sweet as caramel corn. Kettle corn is cooked in a pot over the stove. Oil is added to the pot along with other ingredients to help it cook and taste good.
 * Microwave **
 * Kettle **

Movie theater is by far has the most salt and butter on top of it. This popcorn is made in a machine with a pot that holds the corn. Once the corn pops, it escapes the pot because it has a lid that can slide up and down as the popcorn escapes. The popcorn gets coated with salt and butter in the machine and is ready to eat. The air popper is one of the the simplest designs there is. You put the kernels inside the popper, plug it in, wait, and the popcorn will start coming out of the opening in into a bowl you placed there ahead of time.
 * Popcorn Machine (Movie Theater Type) **
 * Air Popper**


 * Popcorn Flavors **

Here is a list of different flavors of popcorn that I could find. You will not believe some of these flavors! I hope you find it interesting. Specific sites use for this article: http://www.popcornpapa.com/search.asp?classID=8 http://www.popcornpalace.com/index.cfm/fa/prod.flavors


 * List of Popcorn Flavors**

Butter (Original) Caramel Caramel Pecan Caramel Cashew Toffee Almond Red Hot Cinnamon Wild Blueberry Green Applicious Gonzo Grape Wacky Watermelon Orange Crush Blue Coconut Strawberry Patch Banana Cream Pink Cotton Candy Rockin' Raspberry White Cheddar Sour Cream and Chives Mac and Cheese Parmesan and Garlic Dill Pickle Jalapeno Ranch Creamy Ranch Cheesy Ranch Pizza Cinnamon Toast Cookie and Cream Chocolate Fudge Brownie Strawberries and Cream Lemon

I don't think you'd even want to try some flavors like dill pickle or jalapeno, I know I wouldn't! Even pizza flavored popcorn would make me want to get some water to flush it down. Maybe I just don't have good taste, but I do know some of these just aren't fit for popcorn flavors. I would like to taste pink cotton candy though to see what it's like. There are still many more, so if you are interested, check out those sites.

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 * Interesting Facts**
 * Six cities claim to be the "Popcorn Capital of the World." These are the locations: Ridgway, Illinois; North Loup, Nebraska; Marion, Ohio; Van Buren, Indiana; Valparaiso, Indiana; and Schaller, Iowa.
 * In the Midwest, people buy the most popcorn
 * If you store popcorn seeds in a tight jar in the fridge, they keep their moisture, so they pop better.
 * Kernels that haven't been popped are called "old maids."
 * The largest popcorn ball weighed over 3,000 pounds and had a circumference of about 8 meters.
 * Newly popped popcorn is able to reach a height of 3 feet.
 * The Midwest grows the most popcorn.
 * There are shapes that popcorn comes in: "mushroom" and "snowflake" (also known as "butterfly.")
 * The scientific name for popcorn is zea mays everta.

Sources: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/popcorn-facts.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn http://www.popcornpapa.com/search.asp?classID=8 http://www.popcornpalace.com/index.cfm/fa/prod.flavors __The Popcorn Book__ by Tomie de Paola, copyright 1976