A Salute to the Kernel

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

When I was a kid there were no video stores, pay-per-view, or movies on demand. If you wanted to see a particular movie, you just waited, sometimes for a year, and then sat in front of the black and white television enjoying the treasured experience.

Each year, I would wait patiently for the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz. I loved that movie, but not for the reason you might think (although those red shoes were every girl's dream accessory). I loved that night because it was the only night of the year my mom would make popcorn. We would go to the grocery store together and buy some Jiffy Pop in its cute little self-contained popping pan. Then just minutes before the show was to begin, we would stand together over the stove and make the popcorn. Always burned on the bottom, admittedly it was the best popcorn I ever had! To stave off any nightmares, we would always save a few popped kernels to toss at the flying monkeys as they soared across the tiny screen.

Someone once told me you can’t eat popcorn and be sad. I am not sure if that’s universally true. But when I think about it, popcorn is kind of a “happy food”. Why wouldn’t you smile while eating it? It’s a healthy whole grain, fat free, low calorie (27 per popped cup, plain), and high in fiber. Americans love the stuff and consume 17.3 billion quarts of it each year or about 112 cups per person. To keep your snack a healthy one, choose air-popped popcorn made without oil or salt and avoid the prepackaged popcorn, which is generally full of sodium and saturated fats.

Popcorn, as the Jiffy Pop folks would have us remember, really is “as much fun to make as it is to eat.” No one ever really outgrows the fascination of hearing that first “POP” which happens when the water inside the kernel is exposed to heat and turns to steam and forces open the kernel.

Every year, we grow popcorn in one of our gardens. We harvest it when the husk is dried and brown and the corn kernels are hardened on the cob. The harvested corn is then husked and laid out in our barn to dry. Each ear of popcorn yields about 1/3 cup of kernels which gives me over 2 quarts of popped corn.

Popcorn is a blank canvas that holds other flavors well. Tossed with a bit of finely grated parmesan or cheddar cheese, it makes a fun topping for tomato soup. A warm bowl of popcorn, drizzled with a tiny bit of hot sesame oil and sprinkled with some black sesame seeds, makes a sophisticated snack. Combined with your favorite nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate chips, it becomes popcorn “granola.” Dipped in a bit of caramel or chocolate sauce, it’s a dessert! Barbecue sauce on it? Why not? If you like a certain sauce, flavoring, herb or spice, chances are it’ll be great on popcorn. One of my new personal favorites, Wasabi Popcorn, was inspired by a bag of wasabi corn nuts that a friend of mine recently shared with me. Spicy and light, Wasabi Popcorn is a great summer cocktail party snack when served with a chilled Saketini or ice cold beer.

And while you’re lifting your Saketini glass, give a toast to Orville Redenbacher who would have celebrated his birthday on July 16th of this year. Born in Brazil, Indiana (just up the road from me), he was, and still is, the undisputed king of popcorn. With his white hair, thin frame, large glasses, and signature bow tie, the Purdue University grad charmed the world with his love for popcorn until September 1995, when he suffered a fatal heart attack in his condominium’s whirlpool tub. Although he is gone, his legend lives on. If anyone was the “face of popcorn” it was him. And, come to think of it, he was always smiling.

Serves/Makes: 2

• 1 teaspoon wasabi powder, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 quarts plain, warm, freshly popped popcorn