(/)
Nobody knows for sure, but everything indicates that it appeared in America over a thousand years ago. The first Europeans who arrived on the continent described popcorn, unknown to them, as a corn-based snack used by the Indians both as food and as a hair ornament! Corn seeds used to make popcorn were found by archaeologists not only in Peru, but also in the current State of Utah, in the United States, which suggests that it was part of the diet of several American peoples.
It is known, however, that initially the Indians prepared popcorn with the whole cob over the fire. Afterwards, they started to put only the grains on the embers – until they invented a more sophisticated method: cooking the corn in a clay pot with hot sand. The principle is always the same: make the kernel of corn explode.
The inside of the grain is filled with water, which, under intense heat, expands until it explodes. Popular all over the world, popcorn contains a high amount of protein, in addition to important mineral salts for nutrition, such as iron and calcium.