# Popcorn **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208 "2015-03-28T15:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/1 "2015-03-28T15:09:23Z")
I have often wondered what the reaction was of the first human person to discover popcorn. That is, the person who first saw what makes it different from other types of maize. There are a lot of different species of maize, the grain Americans call “corn.” Nearly all of them DO NOT EXPLODE. Most native American peoples ate corn and corn products all the time, blissfully unaware that there was this ONE kind of corn that sounded like fireworks going off and remained delicious afterwards. It is my understanding that the first known popcorn was in Peru. It was well known among the locals before the Europeans showed up. But what must it have been like for the first primitive Peruvian cavemen when they realized that if you tried to cook this one kind of dried corn, it’d BLOW THE HELL UP! I envision a shelter in the jungles of Peru. This one woman has a few ears of dried corn, and has put them near the fire while she does something else. Meanwhile, her husband is sitting around doing nothing, as men traditionally do when women are actually preparing food or doing something constructive. K-POK! The man jumps a little, startled. His eyes dart to the source of the sound. One of the ears of corn has moved. PAK! K’PAK! POK, POK, POK! The man jumps to his feet. “What the HELL?” The woman runs into the shelter. “What? What’s wrong?” PAKPOOK! KRAKRAKRAKRAK! POKKAPOKKAPOK! KRAK! SNAK! POKKAKRAKKA! By now, the air begins to fill with fluffy kernels, rocketing around randomly in the little shelter. The man screams like a little girl and desperately tries to avoid the hot corn rockets! The woman stands there with her mouth open. “What the hell did you DO?” The man looks at her indignantly. “ME? I didn’t do ANYTHING! I was just SITTING there, and all of a sudden, the corn began to EXPLODE!” The woman sets her jaw. “Bullshit. You did SOMETHING. Corn doesn’t just EXPLODE.” “THIS CORN DID!” the man cries. By now, the corn has cheerfully gone to town, and the kernels are bouncing off the angry man and woman, who have by now focused much more on each other than on the phenomenon of their noisy dinner. “We’ve been eating corn for YEARS, now, and it has NEVER BLOWN UP! NOW, WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT?” “Swelp me, I didn’t do ANYTHING! I was just SITTING HERE, minding my own business, and – yowtch! – the corn started to DANCE and POP and – erk! – it… it started DOING THIS!” The couple, at this point, continue to argue until one of the ears, knocked loose by the popping corn, falls into the fire and erupts in a shower of flaming kernels, requiring the argument to be tabled while they join forces to put the fire out. I’d like to think that afterwards, they tried the experiment again, and that the husband was exonerated of shenanigans. But some part of me says that the wife quietly gossipped about the incident, and not long afterwards, behind his back, the guy became known less as “Heart-Of-Jaguar,” and more as “Frightened-By-Dinner…” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/2 "2015-03-28T15:24:03Z")
popcorn was known to the ancients. its consumption was delayed by thousands of years until the idea that the corn gods were angry was replaced by other beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/3 "2015-03-28T15:26:23Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > popcorn was known to the ancients. its consumption was delayed by thousands of years until the idea that the corn gods were angry was replaced by other beliefs. So what you’re saying is that hungry people tweaked their beliefs so they could take advantage of the situation without being blasphemous, and that nothing actually changed except their belief system? I have no trouble believing that. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/4 "2015-03-28T15:31:11Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > popcorn was known to the ancients. its consumption was delayed by thousands of years until the idea that the corn gods were angry\*\* was replaced by other beliefs.\*\* And butter. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/5 "2015-03-28T15:47:14Z")
Similarly, who was the first person to assess a lobster and think this thing is edible…somehow…? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/6 "2015-03-28T15:49:37Z")
… or an oyster… ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/7 "2015-03-28T16:24:44Z")
I always subscribed to the theory that having nothing to eat for generations on end leads to an incredible cuisine being developed. I must therefore assume that the French were denied food by their royalty, because the common people developed a taste for snails and frog legs. And the Cajuns of Louisiana seem to have done something pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/8 "2015-03-28T16:34:45Z")
_Cohen: “[…] You know the big dish down on the coast?” Rincewind: “No” Cohen: “Pig’s ear soup. Now, what’s that tell you about the place, eh?” Rincewind: “Very provident people?” Cohen: “Some other bugger pinched the pig.”_ -Pterry, **Interesting Times** ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/9 "2015-03-28T16:42:31Z")
The foods that confuse me are the ones that are poisonous unless correctly prepared; “Hey, wanna try some pufferfish?” “Didn’t your last girlfriend die after eating one of them?” “Well, yeah, but _this_ time I took the liver out!” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/10 "2015-03-28T19:03:02Z")
The real miracle here is that they decided that it was edible and didn’t just use it to pack their rocks in for shipment to the next cave. Many generations of moviegoers owe a lot to Thag and Ooma. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/11 "2015-03-29T03:35:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The real miracle here is that they decided that it was edible and didn’t just use it to pack their rocks in for shipment to the next cave. Many generations of moviegoers owe a lot to Thag and Ooma. As anyone who’s ever screwed up a meal knows, sometimes you just eat it or go hungry. In this situation, I figure they got a pleasant surprise… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/12 "2015-03-29T03:50:00Z")
I like the idea that NONE are the same. No way no how. Like snowflakes. So. Sativa, or Indica? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/13 "2015-03-29T05:46:10Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > As anyone who’s ever screwed up a meal knows, sometimes you just eat it or go hungry. Just like that [maggot cheese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu) from Sardinia. _You first, Luigi. No, you first, Guido. I insist._ ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/14 "2015-03-29T14:17:36Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > … or an oyster… That was someone who already had added their own boogers to their regular diet. Or, combined with clams, the Worlds First Lesbian? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/15 "2015-03-29T18:10:34Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Just like that [maggot cheese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu) from Sardinia. > > _You first, Luigi. > No, you first, Guido. I insist._ …there are some cultures that appreciate their food live and wriggling. Mine is not among them. I did try Dancing Squid. Once. And adequately concealed my horror while I ate it. While my guests concealed their gleeful mischieviousness at serving the thing. I do not object to squid. I \*like \*calamari. I simply wish it to be dead before it is served to me. I appreciate that Dancing Squid is dead when it is served, and that it is simply sorta kinda _reanimated_ shortly before serving. And it occurred to me while I was eating that I was scarfing down _Frankensquid_, needing only a bolt of lightning and a cackle of mad laughter to make it official, and I smiled and managed not to vomit at the dinner table, a thing which is considered bad manners in every culture with which I have even a passing familiarity. But in MY culture, the presence of maggots generally indicates that a thing is unfit to eat. I think it says something important that in the ONE PLACE ON THE PLANET that anyone would WANT to eat Casu Marzu… it’s ILLEGAL! No, I was just amusing myself by thinking, “the first paleolithic people who discovered that this kind of maize EXPLODES when you dry it out and then get it hot… what did they DO? What was their REACTION?” I mean, life as a primitive people with rudimentary agriculture was kind of dull on a daily basis, I would think. Sure, you have to deal with cave bears and sabertooth tigers occasionally… but what the hell do you do when DINNER EXPLODES? I mean, THAT had to be kind of a surprise… ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/16 "2015-03-29T18:18:45Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > ::: snip ::: > > … but what the hell do you do when DINNER EXPLODES? I mean, THAT had to be kind of a surprise… Bawahahaha, I needed that laugh today. Thanks MWK. Hummmm ‘MWK,’ wonder what an evil mind could do with those letters in conjunction?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/17 "2015-03-30T18:19:29Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > … or an oyster… or a bulls testicle. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/18 "2015-03-30T18:33:48Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > or a bulls testicle. If I was an ancient Peruvian that’s the one thing I _would_ have expected to explode when I put it in the fire. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/19 "2015-03-30T19:12:36Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > or a bulls testicle. > [@lieu](#): > > If I was an ancient Peruvian that’s the one thing I _would_ have expected to explode when I put it in the fire. Mine do a different kind of exploding, in a different kind of hot ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208/20 "2015-03-31T00:45:58Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > So what you’re saying is that hungry people tweaked their beliefs so they could take advantage of the situation without being blasphemous, and that nothing actually changed except their belief system? > > I have no trouble believing that. Since it’s inception in the 1800’s, the Church of Latter-Day Saints maintained that ingestion of tobacco and caffeine were sinful acts. Wasn’t it disgustingly expedient that a high-ranked leader announced, “Well, I talked with God and apparently caffeine isn’t quite so bad if taken in moderate amounts.” –right around the time they bought Pepsico? I’m sure God will revise his stance if Lorilar or RJ Reynolds become available for purchase. –G! :dubious: Maybe it’s been a slippery slope since that Huguenot thing, eh D’Artagnan? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popcorn/716208.md?page=2)