An Irish Favorite

Popcorn is an Irish family staple. I know that most people think of it as a salty dry snack that gets their hands messy at the movies. But for the Irish's it is a staple of a well stocked refrigerator- the kernels keep better if they are refrigerator says my mother. For us popcorn is more than a movie snack. When I was little (ok, and still now) popcorn can be everything from a snack to an entire three course dinner.

One of my most fond family memories involving popcorn took place in the summer when my grandmother rented a cottage in Ocean Park and it rained for most of the week. So since we couldn't enjoy the sun and ocean, and after days of staying inside and reading we decided to go to the movies. Now this meant that every member of the family needed their own ration of soda as well as popcorn. Now a ration of popcorn for an Irish family member isn't the normal small popcorn at the movies, it is the giant bucket - each! So instead of buying all of the this food for the 15+ people, we decided to go in classic Irish fashion and smuggle it in. This was when you could bring bags into the movies. Good thing we decided to go to the movies early in the day because my mother and I got put on popping detail - it took what seemed to be hours! Once all the popcorn was made and rationed out, along with soda we had to decided how to smuggle it into the theater. The movie theater was near the mall - so we used a couple of Macy's bags and put the food in. Then came the big decision, what movie to go and see. As popcorn is an Irish staple - so is disagreeing. In the end we decided to go and see two different movies. Well, I'm sure you can see where this is going. In the end, all the popcorn ended up in one theater while the soda made it to the other. One group was thirsty with no snacks, while the other had plenty of snacks, but nothing to drink!



There are many different ways to pop popcorn. Some schools of thought prefer an air popper. Any true popcorn lover only eats microwave popcorn when there is nothing else left. I stick to the traditional on top of the stove popper. I think that the popcorn has more flavor, then again it could be because you use oil! According to wikipedia popcorn pops because of the moisture inside the kernels. The moisture heats up and explodes - thus creating the part we eat.

Enjoy! SJ