Why Do We Eat Popcorn At The Movies
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Lesson Article
The Magic of Popcorn Making
Popcorn making is a fascinating process marked by soft percussion and a toasty scent. This process transforms tough seeds into cloud-like puffs. But how did we end up with this whimsical food?
The Origin of Corn
All the corn we consume today is derived from a tall grass called teosinte. Indigenous people in what is now southern Mexico began selectively breeding teosinte 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. Some varieties had a fantastic feature: if they reached a certain temperature, their kernels exploded.
Why Popcorn Pops
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. This small-scale explosion also rushes forth the compounds that give popcorn its powerful aroma.
Popcorn in History
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.
Popcorn Cultivation and Popularity
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.
Popcorn’s Rise to Fame
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.
Popcorn and the Movie Industry
However, when the Great Depression hit in 1929, movies provided the public with a welcome distraction. 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.
Popcorn Today
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.
Support from Marriott Hotels
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Discussion Questions
- What do you find most fascinating about the process of popcorn making, as described in the article?
- Reflecting on the origin of corn and the selective breeding by Indigenous people, what does this reveal about the ingenuity and resourcefulness of early human civilizations?
- In what ways does the science behind why popcorn pops surprise you? How does this knowledge enhance your appreciation for popcorn as a snack?
- Considering the historical context, why do you think popcorn initially gained popularity among European colonizers despite its messy and inconsistent preparation methods?
- What impact do you think the invention of the popcorn machine had on the rise of popcorn’s popularity and its association with movie theaters?
- Reflecting on the connection between movies and popcorn during the Great Depression, what does this reveal about the power of entertainment and the ability of certain foods to provide comfort during difficult times?
- How has the evolution of popcorn cultivation and the development of different preparations influenced its global popularity and the variety of popcorn available today?
- Based on the information provided in the article, why do you think popcorn has become such a staple snack in movie theaters, despite its high markup and relatively low production cost?
Lesson Vocabulary
popcorn – a type of corn that expands and puffs up when heated, typically used for making a popular snack food. – I love snacking on popcorn while watching movies.
seeds – a flowering plant’s unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another plant. – I planted a few seeds in my backyard and now I have a beautiful garden.
teosinte – a wild grass native to Mexico, believed to be the ancestor of modern corn. – Genetic studies have shown that teosinte is the closest relative to cultivated corn.
kernels – the edible part of a grain or nut, typically a hard or tough outer shell containing the seed. – I prefer to eat popcorn kernels rather than the popped ones.
pericarp – the outer layer or covering of a fruit or seed. – The pericarp of an apple is usually thin and easily eaten.
starch – a complex carbohydrate that is the main energy storage molecule in plants. – Potatoes are a good source of starch.
steam – the vapor into which water is converted when heated, used for cooking or heating. – I like to steam vegetables to retain their nutrients.
foam – a mass of small bubbles formed on the surface of a liquid, typically by agitation or fermentation. – The beer had a thick foam on top when poured into a glass.
aroma – a distinctive, typically pleasant smell. – The aroma of freshly baked bread filled the kitchen.
cultivation – the process of preparing and working on land to grow crops or plants. – The cultivation of rice requires specific techniques to ensure a successful harvest.
