Pop... Pop Pop Pop (umm.. sounds delicious) Who doesn't know popcorn the famous snack ever, fluffy, cruncy, what do you like? buttery, caramel, or marshmallow u can decide the taste that make you happy, but do you know popcorn is an ancient snacks, and cave people already eat popcorn before Christopher Colombus reached Americas, do you can imagine flintsone eat a popcorn, not a popstone hehe....
The Story Of "Pop"Corn
The oldest popcorn ever found was discovered in the "Bat Cave" of central New Mexico. It is thought to be about 5,600 years old. In tombs in Peru, archaeologists found ancient kernels of popcorn that are so well preserved that they can still pop.
Sometimes, conditions can preserve ancient popcorn so perfectly that it still looks fluffy and white when the dust is blown off of it. In a cave in southern Utah, researchers found surprisingly fresh-looking 1,000-year-old popcorn.
Popcorn was probably an important part of life in the ancient Americas. On a 1,700-year-old painted funeral urn found in Mexico, a corn god is shown wearing a headdress of popcorn. Decorated popcorn poppers from around the same time have been found in Peru.
Cortez, another European global explorer, wrote in his diaries Aztecs decorated ceremonial garb with popped corn. He noted it symbolized goodwill and peace and how the Aztecs made necklaces and other ornaments for the god's statues with the grain, especially that of the god Tialoc, the god of rain, fertility and maize (corn).
An amazingly clear documentation of popcorn comes from an early account of a Spaniard. He records observations of a ceremony honoring the Aztec god watching over fishermen. "They scattered before him parched corn, called momchitl, a kind of corn that bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower; they said these were hailstones given to the god of water."
French explorers, about 1612 in the Great Lakes region, made mention in their documents the use of popcorn by the Iroquois. This popcorn was popped in pottery with heated sand. The Frenchmen took part in an Iroquois dinner that included popcorn soup and popcorn beer.
credits Photo : http://adiastock.deviantart.com
Why This Corn Can "Pop"
A popcorn kernel is actually a seed. Like other seeds, inside it has a tiny plant embryo (a life form in its earliest phase). The embryo is surrounded by soft, starchy material that would give the embryo energy for growing into a plant. A hard, glossy shell protects the outside of the seed.
The soft, starchy material holds some water. When the kernel is heated to a high heat (400 degrees F), the water inside the kernel turns into steam. The pressure from the steam causes the kernel to explode. The soft starch inside bursts out at about 40 times its original size, turning the kernel inside out. This creates the fluffy white area of a popped kernel.
The ideal popcorn kernel contains about 14 percent moisture. If the popcorn is much drier, it will not pop. Popcorn kernels should be kept in a tightly sealed jar so that they will not dry out.
the articles is from two sources : http://www.factmonster.com/spot/popcorn1.html and http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisthehist_rsdt.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment