Why do we eat popcorn at the movies? - Andrew Smith
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.
This video was made possible with support from Marriott Hotels. With over 590 hotels and resorts across the globe, Marriott Hotels celebrates the curiosity that propels us to travel. Check out some of the exciting ways TED-Ed and Marriott are working together and book your next journey at Marriott Hotels.
This video was made possible with support from Marriott Hotels. With over 590 hotels and resorts across the globe, Marriott Hotels celebrates the curiosity that propels us to travel. Check out some of the exciting ways TED-Ed and Marriott are working together and book your next journey at Marriott Hotels.
