Popcorn, you may know it as your movie mate, or your cricket-match companion. But let me tell you, that they were discovered far before movies were found. Popcorn is claimed to be a stone-age snack. Archaeologists believe that the people who resided in caves mostly had it in meals. Scientists have even found an 800,000-year-old popcorn in the midst of Mexico City.
Scientists researched around Mexico and found the oldest popcorn of about 5,600 years old. In the tombs of Peru, they even found kernels of popcorn preserved so well that they can still be popped. It seems that it was an important dish in the ancient time. Paintings also revealed a corn god wearing a crown made of popcorns.
History of Popcorn
In 1519, Hernando Cortes first found popcorn. When Columbus first visited the West Indies, he saw people eating popcorn and even wearing it as accessories or hair bands. He took them to America during the time of Thanksgiving. The residents of America did many experiments with popcorn. It was also served with sugar and cream. Some made popcorn beer, whereas some made soup of it!
Popcorn became surprisingly famous till the end of the 19th century. They were seen everywhere, from local vendors in parks to stalls in theatres. During World War II, when sugar was banned, popcorn consumption increased to three times as it was before. But, when TV took off in 1950’s, the sales of popcorn dropped for a while.
A popcorn unit is a seed. The surrounding of this seed is a soft starchy material that explodes when heated at a specific temperature. The starchy material pops turning the seed inside out. This created the fluffy white area of popcorn. They are usually stored in a sealed tight container to avoid dryness.
