By Dale Moore |
By Dale Moore |
|
Pop…pop..pop…poppoppop…….pop… October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month. Big deal! Did you know that we Americans consume 17 billion quarts of popcorn annually? I’ll wait while you pop some and get started on your 58 quarts which they say each of us, on average, eat in a year. Pop…poppop,,,pop…back again? As a service to my readers, I thought you should know that if you log on to www.melborponsti.com/popcorn/index you would find 117 recipes for ways to fix this household snack. Whatever you crave, there is a recipe to satisfy, including Cajun, Chinese, Mexicali Taco, Oriental, Raggae, Thai, and Italian . Maybe you prefer something more homespun like Kentucky Praline, Viva Zapata, Pina Colada, Cheddar Bacon or Garlic. Then for this particular seaon there is Hauntingly Good Popcorn. But the one that sounds the best to me is the White Chocolate Pecan. Excuse me! I’ll be right back! Pop…pop…poppoppop…pop Now you may think that popcorn is some Johnny-come-lately to the snack scene, but let me tell you that it has a regal heritage. Historians have found ears of popcorn that are over 5600 years old. Popcorn was being cultivated and consumed in China before Columbus came to the new world. (Maybe we should have a little more respect for a people who have cultivated popcorn, created spaghetti and invented gun. powder.) Actually, before Columbus arrived in the West Indies, Native Americans had cultivated over 700 distinct brands of popcorn. When Chris did finally arrive in the new world, the Native Aztecs, and others, doubtless had a popcorn concessions stand set up on the shore so they could munch while they watched the show! In the 16th century Bernardino de Sahagen wrote, “And also a number of young women danced, having so vowed, a popcorn dance. As thick as tassels of maize were their popcorn garlands. And these they placed on the girls’ heads.” The Aztecs also threw popcorn, or momochiti as they called it, on the water in tribute to the gods of the seas. Pop…pop 17 BILLION quarts a year! Sounds like popcorn is a lot more deserving of a month than many fool things that Congress honors!
And that is my two cents worth |
