Pop Culture

     It's a well known fact that popcorn is good for you.  It's a healthy snack that is low in calories and high in fiber. Zea mays everta is actually a whole grain and is a member of the grass family.  Air popped popcorn contains only 31 calories a cup while the oil popped variety has just 55 calories.  It has more protein than any other cereal grain and contains more iron that eggs.

     

     Nebraska produces more popcorn than any other state in the nation.  And that's a good thing because Americans eat 17 billion quarts of it every year.  There are two basic shapes: snowflake that is sold primarily in movie theaters, and mushroom which is sturdier and resists breakage and thus becomes caramel corn.

     Every New Year's Eve a 40 pound ball of popcorn covered with lights is dropped at midnight in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  And in 2013 at the Indiana State Fair a record was set as a 6,500 pound popcorn ball was created.  But it didn't last long because after the fair was concluded it was demolished and fed to livestock.

     In the town square in Valparaiso, Indiana stands a statue of Orville Redenbacher who began his popcorn making career there over 50 years ago.  At the Boiler House Restaurant in San Antonio Chef Jeff White uses left over popcorn for a popular menu item, Popcorn Grits.

And now a "Pop" quiz:  What are the unpopped kernels called?