Popcorn Is Popping Up As The Snack Of 2013

Warning: Explosion Ahead… 

With 16 billion quarts of popcorn munched in America each year, you wouldn’t think the market could get any more heated, but watch out; there are mega-explosions of the crazy popular kernel ahead.  Just in time to celebrate National Popcorn Day on January 19, we bring you Popcorn, THE snack of 2013.

Popcorn topped just about every list of food trends, including a “Good Morning America” shout-out for the Campari-laced caramel popcorn at uber trendy Perbacco Ristorante in San Francisco. "Popcorn lends itself to carrying flavors -- it's more neutral than potato chips, tortilla chips or nuts," says chef Staffan Terje. And that’s why we’re just getting started with popcorn, equally delicious with sweet or savory flavors, and a welcome addition to ice cream, salads, desserts, or as a granola-replacement for breakfast. Food & Wine magazine predicts popcorn will appear on dressy restaurant plates to add a texture jolt, while Catersource magazine says the trend toward ‘popcorn bars,’ featuring elaborately spiced and flavored offerings at high-end events, will become even more widespread in 2013.

Creative retailers and food manufacturers are blowing the lid off with offerings of chocolate covered, curry seasoned and multi-colored popcorn. At Popcornopolis in Los Angeles, flavors include strawberries and cream, chili, lime, dill pickle seasons and kernels of ruby red or indigo blue; the Kandied Kernel in Syracuse, NY opened last spring with orange and blueberry colors; chocolate, peanut butter or nut drizzles; and flavors like coffee-coated, loaded baked potato, hot cinnamon, peanut butter and jelly, and the very popular Skittles. According to urbangrocer.com, the British are equally popcorn prone, and their newest--Joe & Seph’s curry with lime and black onion seed, and Auvergne blue cheese with walnut and celery—will ultimately cross the pond to American gourmet stores.

Chefs are putting it all on the plate as well. At Denver’s Linger restaurant, complimentary popcorn with Oaxacan Mole and Madras Curry and Dill seasonings is offered in lieu of a bread basket, and at Halycon in Charlotte, salted caramel popcorn croutons adorn its winter greens salad. At Alobar’s, chef Ian Kapitan brings it home with bacon, along with maple syrup and black pepper, tossed with popcorn and baked to a crispy finish. Others are experimenting with Blazing Buffalo Popcorn for, yes, popcorn that tastes like buffalo wings: mix ranch dressing or dip mix, celery seed, garlic powder, sugar, cayenne pepper and vegetable oil into six quarts of popped popcorn.

It’s also popping with health benefits: University of Scranton researchers found in 2012 that one serving one of popcorn has twice the cancer-preventing antioxidants contained in fruits or vegetables. Even the kernels, the bits that get caught in your teeth, are packed with polyphenols, “nutritional gold nuggets,” according to the study. LA Times food writer suggests that the ‘world’s perfect snack food’ might well be Aztec Chocolate Caramel Popcorn, mixing super foods like roasted pumpkin seeds, semisweet chocolate pieces, ground ancho chile pepper, espresso coffee powder and cinnamon into a big bowl of air-popped popcorn.

Finally, a quick look back at one of the world’s oldest snack foods, on the scene for more than 5,600 years. In the U.S., Native Americans popped their corn on hot stones over a fire, and flavored it with dried herbs and spices. It was thought that a spirit lived inside each kernel of popcorn, and if their home was heated, they would jump around angrily, eventually bursting out with a pop. Colonists took immediately to it when the Wampanoag tribe introduced popcorn at the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth. Popcorn’s big break came during the Great Depression when cash-strapped movie theaters brought concessions inside; WWII sugar rations sent popcorn sales even higher when candy was scarce; and the advent of microwave popcorn in the 1980s continued its winning streak…all the way into the 21^st century.