National Popcorn Day
National popcorn day is celebrated on January 19th each year. Whether salted, buttered, seasoned with powder or drizzled with a sweet concoction, popcorn is one of the snacks perfect anytime, anywhere. You can have it on the go, in a park, or on the couch at home. Just be prepared to floss some of it out of your teeth.
The corn we eat and the corn we pop are two different kinds of maize. The corn you find on the dinner is actually not even going to pop. Only one kind of corn is able to become popcorn: the Zea mays everta variety. This particular kind has small ears and the kernels burst when exposed to dry heat.
Herbert Dick and Earle Smith were the first ones to discover small heads of Zea mays everta in the Bat cave of west central New Mexico, the oldest ears were about 4,000 years old. Individually popped kernels were also found, carbon dated and shown to be approximately 5,600 years old. There’s also evidence of early use of popcorn in Peru, Mexico and Guatemala, and other places in Central and South America.
Aztecs used popcorn to decorate their clothes, create ceremonial embellishments, and also for nourishment. Native Americans have also been found to consume and utilize popcorn in their day to day lives. In a cave in Utah, thought to be inhabited by Pueblo Native Americans, popcorn has been found that dates back to over 1,000 years ago. French explorers who traveled to the new world discovered popcorn being made by the Iroquois Natives in the Great Lakes region. As colonists moved around North America, and as the USA came to be, many people adopted popcorn as a popular and healthy snack.
Popcorn began becoming a popular movie theater snack, although cinema owners initially resisted because they thought it was going to be too messy on the theater floor. But they saw that they could earn more for popcorn selling than ticket sales and people would usually get thirsty and consequently buy soda or water.
The microwave oven spurred the next big advancement for popcorn. With the invention of the microwave, a whole new market opened for the snack food.
Today, a majority of the popcorn produced in the world is grown in the United States. Nebraska leads the corn belt in popcorn production.
National popcorn day is all about enjoying a movie while sinking your hand into a bucket or packet of popcorn. Invite some friends over, plan a movie marathon, and considering how easy it is now to have absolutely perfect popcorn, enjoy! You can make your own flavored popcorn with savory seasonings or chocolate and other mixes for those with a sweet tooth.
It's national popcorn day and you need to get to the office? Put on Popcorn Olympics. Popcorn basketball, popcorn relay race, guess the amount. Whatever activities you may have had before, just replace your materials with popcorn and have fun! Check this article on air poppers.
