Drill Down: Popcorn

"Thank goodness it's not more salad!"

Every Monday night, after my youngest goes to bed, my 5.25 year old installs herself on the couch while watching something on Netflix and I go to work in the kitchen. I take my best heavy copper-core sauce pan, blast the heat, put in one tablespoon of butter than another tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil to just cover the bottom. I give the fats a heavy sprinkle of salt, then pour yellow corn kernels straight from the bag in the fridge into the bottom of the pan, again just to cover the bottom, before it gets too hot. The pan gets tightly covered. In a minute or so, the popping starts, I start casually moving the pan. Soon, the popping reaches a crescendo, then slows down to a pop every 2 to 4 seconds. Another few moments and the white steam coming out of the corner of the lid will turn dark and acrid. Two metal prep bowls catch the bounty, the first whiter, softer top portion to my child, the crisper, sometimes darker bottom portion to me. I install myself on the couch next to my daughter, we munch the popcorn before bed, drink water to clear the salt from our mouths. This is our Popcorn Party. 

It's not a potato chip party, Frito or Cheeto party, because if it just lazily plopped out of a bag, where would the love be in that? I've made Fritos at home before, and other being meh, it was not casual. Unlike a bagged food scientist-tuned, hyper-palative addictive snack attack, popcorn is American in the best sense possible. You do it yourself, you choose your quality and balance of whole grain, fat and salt. You can get a specialized piece of equipment, but really, just a good heavy pot with a solid tight fitting cover will do you. A farmer 200 years ago could not go into his field and whip up a bowl of Cheetos for his kids, but popcorn was there.

Popcorn was first domesticated in Mexico 9,000 years ago from a wild grass. A few thousands of years later it then made its way across Central and South America. Popcorn is one of the oldest forms of corn; evidence of popcorn from 3600 B.C. was found in New Mexico. Corncobs found at two ancient sites in Peru may date from as early as 4700 B.C. This suggests that people living along the coast of northern Peru were already eating popcorn by that time.
The legend that English settlers, who came to America in the 16th and 17th centuries, learned about popcorn from Native Americans is considered to be a myth. No evidence exists from colonial times to support the claim that natives of North America's east coast even knew of, or, for that matter, grew popcorn.

 "When she saw the happy throng approaching camp, she patted an even layer of coals over the clay.  One of the maidens shook the coal-covered tray back  and forth like an old fashioned popcorn popper while another maiden took large handfuls of worms from the bag and sprinkled them over the live coals causing a sudden flash of fire as the hair burned off of them.  Then the worms went into a frenzy of squirming that brought shrieks of delight from the excited children.  The maiden continued shaking the worms back and forth over the coals until they puffed up about three times their original size.  When they were completely toasted, they were dumped into a basket, and the process was repeated until all the worms were cooked." Uhhh, popworms, the Native American predecessor to popcorn? 

While the earliest evidence  suggested that throwing a whole popcorn cob on a fire would result in a fun, dirty but edible mess, the earliest methods of cooking popcorn was indeed in a covered pot on top of fire, not unlike what I do with my daughter. Steam powered poppers emerged in the late 1800s, which made popping large quantities for sale in movie theaters a thing. 

During the Great Depression, popcorn was fairly inexpensive at 5–10 cents a bag and became popular. Thus, while other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for many struggling farmers. During World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production, and Americans compensated by eating three times as much popcorn as they had before.

I can't lie, this makes me nolstagic for my mom.

In the 60's, as food went from "woman's work" to no-one's work, popcorn was conveniently all-in-one "jiffied" into a disposable covered pan and not-so-healthy shelf-stable hydrogenated fats. Ultra-convenient popcorn was update in the 1980s with microwave popcorn, and in the 1990s it let go of the fresh homemade angle, with brands like "Smartfood" embracing a healthy sheen but adding flavors, preservatives and other food science angles to help popcorn join the other hyperpalative savory snacks. 

Of course, popcorn is not necessarily a salty & savory snack. When I went to the movies in England a few years back, I was confronted with a popcorn choice: salty or sweet? I got the sweet, which was basically unsalted popcorn with sugar sprinkled on it, about as bad as you think it was. However, "Kettle corn", in which the popped corn is lightly glazed, is a popular thing and carmel-coated popcorn tossed with peanuts was trailblazer by Cracker Jack since the the beginning of the modern American popcorn popularity at the end of the 19th century.

Back when food was scarce and being underweight was a thing, marketing the addictive qualities of your product was a positive.

Is popcorn healthy? Well, of course anything can be "healthy" in the context of proper moderation. Better question: is it recommended to eat popcorn every week, like my daughter and I do?

Air-popped popcorn is naturally high in dietary fiber and antioxidants, low in calories and fat, and free of sugar and sodium. This can make it an attractive snack to people with dietary restrictions on the intake of calories, fat, and/or sodium.

Unfortunately, popping popcorn in what is a gerry-rigged hair dryer is strictly for people who hate themselves and hate life -- fat free popcorn tastes pretty much like packing material, tends to be chewy/gummy and delivers no satisfaction.

For the sake of flavor, however, large amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium are often added to prepared popcorn, which can quickly convert it to a very poor choice for those on restricted diets.
One particularly notorious example of this first came to public attention in the mid-1990s, when the Center for Science in the Public Interest produced a report about "Movie Popcorn", which became the subject of a widespread publicity campaign. The movie theaters surveyed used coconut oil to pop the corn, and then topped it with butter or margarine. "A medium-size buttered popcorn", the report said, "contains more fat than a breakfast of bacon and eggs, a Big Mac and fries, and a steak dinner combined." The practice continues today.

So as long as you don't go cheap with bad fats like the movie theaters and you cook with appropriate amounts of fat and salt, the presence of large amounts of dietary fiber and antioxidants still count. Welcome to the world of shades of grey.

Tubby tub, tubs.

Today, the post-modern reaction to the codification and de-healthy-fying of this time-worn food can be seen in the emergence of "heirloom popcorn", just the same way our expanding local-driven farmer's markets highlight heirloom tomatoes and other variety of vegetables that have fallen by the wayside to carefully genetically selected (if not modified) mono-crops that cover millions of acres of our country between the coasts.

Over home-canned tomato juice and sweet rolls at the farmhouse breakfast table, Mr. Mealhow acknowledged that his was a battle that would not be easily won. America is perhaps too deeply in love with size over flavor. 

He blames Orville Redenbacher, a 1928 graduate of Purdue University and a master marketer who used genetic material developed at the university’s Agriculture Alumni Seed Improvement Association to breed a high-volume corn that shifted America’s expectations.

“Orville produced a giant popcorn to be a delivery vehicle for butter and salt,” he said. “He convinced the entire world that was the way to go. But it doesn’t taste like anything.”

Smaller, tastes more like toasted corn, leaves more "widows" a the bottom of the pot, just like it might of used to be -- I'd be a liar if I denied I'm going to pick up a bag of pricier heirloom popcorn the next time I stumble on some. If my kids can become emotionally attached to some special popcorn made at home that takes that extra care, maybe I won't be such a bad father after all.

Edie asked me the other night, "Can we make M&Ms?" I mentioned when she was older, we could totally make chocolate truffles together and sit in front of the TV and have a diabetes party together, I assume she just took away the "cooking together" and "chocolate" parts. But for now, our Popcorn Parties are what bonds us, it gives her a little whole grain and nutrition in her chicken nugget and strawberry diet regime, and I hope we never outgrow it.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: x

x

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MONDAY COUNT: 2755

SLEPT: 9:45pm-6:45am, 9hr
Realized that despite not riding formally this weekend, I got about 30 miles in on the big bike, loaded with either two kids or a large load of Costco stuff. Might be coming down with a bug going around, too. Oy.

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea, 500mg Vitamin C

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fage whole yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, falafel, carrot ginger soup, health salad, pickles, 745 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 300 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, 500mg Vitamin C, +/- 300 cal

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TUEDAY COUNT: 3100

SLEPT: 9pm-12:30am, 1pm-6am, 1:45pm-2:45pm, 9.5hr
Fighting a bug, body sucking up a lot of sleep. Not even going to try to wake up early enough to lift. Ride on Thursday, however, hmmmm….

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea, 500mg Vitamin C

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  steel cut oatmeal,  450 cal

AM SNACK: 11am, 1 French macaroni from France, +/- 50 cal
Work friend just got back from Paris and walked into a big promotion, would been rude not to help celebrate, and this was a hardcore macaron, not some stupid local cupcake or something.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken meatballs, lentil curry, steamed string beans, pickles, 680 cal 

PM SNACK: 3:30 pm, momma salad, Grazebox seed mix , 270 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, poppa salad with caesar dressing, 690 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, almond butter & chocolate syrup, +/-400 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3130

SLEPT: 9:30pm-2am, 3am-6am, 1:45pm-2:45pm,  8.5 hr
Still feel off, getting sleep. Out to dinner with a friend, surprisingly hungry when I got home.

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea, 500mg Vitamin C

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, Fage full fat yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa, pickles, 770 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox crackers , 210 cal

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, Ethiopian food, 1 glass of wine, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 kind bars, almond butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 600 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 3060

SLEPT: 11pm-6am, 7 hr
Skipped the morning bike ride, still not feeling over this bug that is slowing me down but not stopping me.

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea, 500mg Vitamin C

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  steel cut oatmeal,  450 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, left over vegetarian Ethiopian food, pickles, +/- 600 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, Grazebox crackers , 180 cal

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, poppa salad with Cesar dressing, 170 cal

DINNER: 8pm, pasta and meatballs, squid, half a tiramisu, bread, water, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, ice cream, pie, +/- 500 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 800cal
FRIDAY COUNT: 2760

SLEPT: 11pm-4am, 2-3pm,  6 hr
Forty mile ride to Rockaways in the evening, good to get out but made me aware that I'm still not completely over this bug.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea, 500mg Vitamin C

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9am,  fruit smoothie, 500 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, roasted broccoli, pickles,  +/- 700 cal 

PM SNACK: 3 pm, momma salad, cheesits , 310 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog ,fries, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, Stouffer's French Bread pizza, ice cream, +/- 1200 cal