Home Farm Herbery

The Art of Making some Really Good Popcorn©

By Arlene Wright-Correll

Popcorn, also known as popping corn is a type of corn (maize, Zea mays var. everta) that expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated.

Popcorn differs from other varieties of corn in that is has a thicker hull. The hull allows pressure from the heated water to build and eventually bursts open. The inside starch becomes gelatinous while being heated; when the hull bursts, the gelatinized starch spills out and cools, giving it its familiar popcorn shape.

Popcorn was first domesticated in Mexico 9,000 years ago from a wild grass. A few thousands of years later it then made its way across Central to South America.  I was amazed to find out that popcorn is one of the oldest forms of corn with evidence of popcorn from 3600 B.C. was found in New Mexico. 

As a kid coming out of the depression I can remember buying big bags of popcorn for 5 and 10 cents and that has stayed with me so much that I find it almost impossible to buy popcorn in today’s movie theaters for $2.50 to $5.00 a bucket.

I can remember threading popcorn on a string to decorate our Christmas tree as a kid in Brooklyn, NY and to this day I have fond memories of my cousins and me doing this each year at our grandmother’s house.  Often, when she could afford cranberries, we would include them on our string. The popcorn was made in a covered pan on her wood burning stove in her kitchen and we kids loved it.

Recently at Home Farm Herbery I have been experimenting sea salt and herbs which lead me to experiment with popcorn seasonings and we are now delighted to offer several different kinds. 

  One of the simplest ones is Sea Salt with Black Pepper Popcorn Seasoning which has a salty taste with a bite from the cracked black pepper thus giving your popcorn a wonderful aroma.  We went on to discover that this is also great on French fries and homemade chips.

Another one we love is White Cheddar Cheese Powder Popcorn Seasoning which has a great aroma and is cheesy with an authentic Cheddar cheese flavor.  More experimenting proved it to be not only great on our popcorn but great in sauces, dressing, mac and cheese, bread, potatoes, vegetables and anything you use cheese on!  

Wanting something sweeter and perkier we discovered we could have that with our Honey Barbecue Popcorn Flavoring and it gave us a great aroma and a smoky, tangy and sweet flavor.

As loving not only popcorn, but chocolate also we fell in love with Cocoa with Vanilla Popcorn Flavoring because it has the perfect blend of sweet from the cocoa and vanilla with a little bit of salt to balance out the flavors for a great taste.