Wednesday, 24 February 2010

• Popcorn: The Real Deal

  
  

  
  We are now in our second generation of popcorn illiterates!
  
  Most people under the age of 30 have NEVER tasted popcorn made the old fashioned way. And if you ask them just what the old fashioned way IS...they may have a vague recollection of a hot air popper, but mostly you will get blank stares or something they learned in 4th grade social studies class about Native Americans popping corn around a fire. The years in between are lost, the years of shaking a pot over a stove burner are forgotten...MAYBE they've had exposure to Jiffy Pop, or heard tell of it, but few have tasted or made popcorn the old fashioned way themselves.
  
  Movie popcorn, and microwave popcorn have their own charm, and can taste great. Hot air popped corn, while being pretty tough and relatively flavorless comes a wee bit closer to the actual "old fashioned" kind, but to get the real deal, you need to start from scratch, with a few basic tools found in the ordinary kitchen. A pot with a handle and cover, some cooking oil, a big bowl, a stick of REAL butter, sorry no substitutes, salt (again, no substitutes, not for this round, you can pull out the Mrs Dash at a later date) and popcorn. You can find it at most grocery stores, but you may have to ask. In my local grocery store, it is NOT found with the 109 varieties of microwave pop corn, it's on another aisle with the dried fruit and nuts.
  
  Here's how to do it:
  
  

  1. Put about a tablespoon of cooking oil into the bottom of your pot, less if you are using a small pot.
  2. Pour popcorn kernels into the pot until you have a layer one kernel deep covering the bottom.
  3. Put on the lid. Place pot over medium heat on the stove.
  4. Shake the pot back and forth, it makes a nice satisfying sound, alternatively you can rock the pot back and forth a la "ship on a stormy sea" style, you should hear the kernels moving.
  5. In a few minutes the kernels will begin to pop. This will give off a tantalizing smell and you may feel goosebumps rising all over you.
  6. Tilt the lid slightly to allow steam to escape. Breathe in deeply.
  7. Keep shaking, rocking, until the popping slows down.
  8. Remove from heat. Take off lid, you may hear a few random pops
  9. Dump hot popcorn into the bowl.
  10. Cut off a generous chunk of butter and put it into the hot pot. Melt butter and pour it all over the popcorn.
  11. Shake on salt, to taste.
  12. Stir arouind the popcorn to distribute salt and butter.
  13. Grab something tall to drink, and ENJOY your fresh hot popcorn.

  
  

  
  

  
  I mean it, really, it is worth the "work" (it takes about 10 minutes). If you have never had homemade popcorn...you may well be converted for life. If you have had it before...you will be reminded just how good it is.
  
  And you can dress it up as much or little as you like, though for this first round, please stick to the tried and true formula above. But yes, it's amazing with brown sugar, chili powder, cinnamon or Italian spice sprinkled over it. You can buy cheese powder and make your own cheese popcorn, or sprinkle grated parmesan over it...let your imagination run wild.
  
  And please share this wonder with someone, a friend, a young person who has never tasted popcorn that didn't come from a microwave bag or wasn't doused in that yellow stuff at the movie theater. Don't let the culinary experience that is old fashioned popcorn die.
  
  Long live the tender fluffy kernel! Please share your popcorn memories or creative popcorn mix in's below!
  
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