Why do we eat popcorn at the movies?

Transcript

Soft percussion and a toasty scent mark the violent transformation of tough seeds into cloud-like puffs.

This is the almost magical process of popcorn-making.

But how did we actually end up with this whimsical food?

All the corn eaten today is derived from a tall grass called teosinte, which Indigenous people in what is now southern Mexico began selectively breeding about 9,000 years ago.

An ear of teosinte originally yielded somewhere between 5 and 12 small kernels, each with a hard shell called a pericarp.

And some varieties had a fantastic feature: if they reached a certain temperature, their kernels exploded.

Popcorn kernels pop because water and starch are sealed tightly within the pericarp.

When heated, the moisture inside becomes steam.

As it expands, it increases the internal pressure and the solid starch transforms into a gel-like substance.

The pressure finally overcomes the pericarp’s resistance and it bursts— the steam and starch expanding to form a foam that quickly cools and dries in the air.

From this small-scale explosion also rush forth the compounds that give popcorn its powerful aroma.

Ancient Indigenous American people cultivated other maize varieties with larger, more flavorful kernels and thinner pericarps.

But the hard-shelled, poppable variety also persisted and spread through parts of the Americas.

By the time European colonizers arrived in the late 1400s, Indigenous American people were preparing and eating corn in myriad manners.

Popcorn wasn’t a major part of their diets. But it popped up in European accounts, which described the preparation of “toasted” or “parched” corn and its use in some Aztec feasts and celebrations.

Despite initial reluctance, colonizers eventually began cultivating— and popping— corn.

The methods they used at first were inconsistent and messy.

But with the invention of “wire over the fire” baskets around 1837, the process got easier.

Soon, popcorn picked up steam and exploded with a reputation as a low-cost, entertaining snack.

Over the following decades, it became a mainstay at events and hundreds of recipes materialized, mixing popcorn with sweet and savory ingredients.

But popcorn hadn’t yet reached its height.

At the 1893 World’s Fair, an inventor showcased the first popcorn machine: a wagon that tossed popcorn in seasoning as it cooked.

Soon enough, vendors could be seen roving US city streets with similar machines.

Interestingly, movie theaters were some of the only American venues where you wouldn’t find popcorn at the time.

Many cinema operators saw their establishments as part of a grand theater tradition at odds with popcorn— what they considered a messy, low-brow street food.

However, when the Great Depression hit in 1929, movies provided the public with a welcome distraction.

And they had recently gone from being silent and subtitled to acquiring sound, making them accessible to a wider audience, including non-literate people.

At about five or ten cents a bag, popcorn proved an inexpensive luxury for moviegoers, so theater operators pounced on the money-making opportunity.

Today, a medium bag of popcorn might cost about 60 cents to make, but retail for around $6— a 1,000% markup.

Popcorn sales generate nearly 40% of all movie theater profits, helping to offset the high prices that theaters pay film studios.

Over the last century, people throughout the Americas continued popping corn, and different preparations took hold in markets worldwide.

When microwavable popcorn was launched in the 1980s, popcorn popped off yet again.

Dozens of kinds of popcorn are now grown in the US.

Different strains assume distinctive shapes when their kernels explode, most commonly taking so-called “mushroom” and “butterfly” forms.

And they’ve been bred for supreme poppability.

Over the last century, the amount that popcorn expands has doubled: now, kernels can reach up to 50 times their original size upon popping.

Not to be corny, but popcorn’s come a long way.

Vocabulary List

toasty
(adjective) slightly browned or heated

scent
(noun) a distinctive smell or aroma

mark
(verb) to make a visible sign on something

puff
(noun) a small, light cloud of smoke, steam, or other material

end up
(verb) to reach a particular place or state in the end

whimsical
(adjective) unusual and not serious

derive
(verb) to get something from something else

breed
(verb) to keep animals or plants in order to produce young ones

yield
(verb) to produce or provide something

kernel
(noun) the central part of a seed, nut, or fruit, containing the embryo

pop
(verb) to make a short, sharp, explosive sound

starch
(noun) a white, tasteless, odorless carbohydrate that is the main part of many foods, such as potatoes, rice, and bread

overcome
(verb) to overpower or defeat something

cool
(verb) to make something less hot or become less hot

dry
(verb) to make something free from moisture or become free from moisture

cultivate
(verb) to grow something

flavorful
(adjective) having a strong or pleasant taste

persist
(verb) to continue to exist or happen in spite of opposition or difficulty

myriad
(adjective) very many; countless

manner
(noun) a way of behaving or doing something

feast
(noun) a large or elaborate meal

reluctance
(noun) a feeling of unwillingness to do something

messy
(adjective) untidy or unclean

mainstay
(noun) something that is essential or indispensable

materialize
(verb) to appear or become apparent

savory
(adjective) having a strong, pleasant taste; tasty

rove
(verb) to wander or travel about aimlessly

establishment
(noun) a business or organization, especially a large or well-known one

low-brow
(adjective) not highly intellectual or cultured

welcome
(adjective) that you are pleased to have, receive, etc.

distraction
(noun) something that prevents someone from concentrating on what they are doing

pounce on
(verb) to attack someone or something suddenly and eagerly

markup
(noun) an increase in the price of something

offset
(verb) to counterbalance or compensate for something

corny
(adjective) not original; used too often to be interesting or to sound sincere

Grammar Point

We will observe one word family in the video.

And some varieties had a fantastic feature: if they reached a certain temperature, their kernels exploded.

vary (verb)
to be different from each other in size, shape, etc.
The rooms vary in size.

variable (noun)
something that may be different in different situations
With so many variables, it is difficult to calculate the cost.

variance (noun)
the amount by which something changes or is different from something else
a price variance of 5%

variant (noun)
something that is slightly different from the usual form of something
This game is a variant of netball.

variety (noun)
several different types of the same thing
They hold debates on a wide variety of topics.

variability (noun)
the fact of something being likely to vary
There is always a degree of variability in the exchange rate.

variation (noun)
a difference between similar things, or a change from the usual amount or form of something
White bread is really just a variation of French bread.

variable (adjective)
likely to change often
Interest rates can be highly variable.

invariable (adjective)
always the same; never changing
Her routine was invariable.

varied (adjective)
consisting of or including many different kinds of things or people
The country has a rich and varied culture.

various (adjective)
several different
Tents come in various shapes and sizes.

variably (adverb)
in a way that can change or vary
cells with variably sized nuclei

invariably (adverb)
always
This acute infection of the brain is almost invariably fatal.

variously (adverb)
in several different ways, usually by several different people
He has been variously described as a hero, a genius and a bully.

Common Expressions

reach its height
But popcorn hadn’t yet reached its height.

The phrase “reach its height” means to reach the highest point or level. It can be used in a literal sense, such as when a tree reaches its height, or in a figurative sense, such as when a career reaches its height.

Here are some examples of how the phrase “reach its height” can be used in a sentence:

The tree reached its height of 100 feet.
The company’s profits reached their height in 2008.
The singer’s career reached its height in the 1990s.

The phrase “reach its height” can also be used in a more abstract sense, such as when a feeling or emotion reaches its peak. For example, you might say that someone’s anger reached its height when they threw a chair across the room.

come a long way
Not to be corny, but popcorn’s come a long way.

The phrase “come a long way” means to have made significant progress or improvement. It is often used to describe someone’s personal development or the progress of a particular field or industry.

For example, you might say that someone has “come a long way” if they have overcome a personal challenge or achieved a significant goal. You might also say that a particular field or industry has “come a long way” if it has made significant progress in recent years.

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