A burst of flavours

Pop 'em up

There’s something about the word ‘popcorn’ that the mere mention of it instantly lights up one’s eyes. Synonymous with movie-watching, the simple snack is loved by everyone, foodies or not, for it delivers an inexplicable contentment like none other.

Over the years, these popped kernels have undergone several flavour variations, with cinema halls serving ‘cheese’, ‘chilli’, ‘caramel’ and other varieties besides the salted one. To spice up the scene, many have added their own twist to these crunchy nibbles and are all too kicked about the experimentation.

During his graduation days, Sanketh Y S, an entrepreneur, added a zing to his movie nights with some lovely flavoured popcorn. “My friend and I needed to munch on something while watching movies at his place and that’s when the idea of doing something innovative with popcorn struck us. We used our creativity to come up with flavours like ‘buttery lemon’, ‘strawberry bites’ (popcorn tossed on the flame in powdered frozen strawberries mixed with sugar), ‘cookies ‘n’ corn’ (using melted cookies) and ‘pizza twist’,” says Sanketh. The pizza variation, he adds, was fantastic as it had buttered popcorn layered with mozzarella, oregano, chilli flakes, olives and mushrooms, heated and mixed while eating.

Susmita Nanda Dash, blogger at ‘Ambrosiia’, rightly calls popcorn ‘addictive’ and has played around with many seasonings to add a punch to it. “I’ve used readymade sauces and spice mixes to dish out flavours like ‘peri peri’ with extra butter, ‘caramel’, my personal favourite ‘cheese’ and the tangy ‘tomato’ which takes the whole experience to another level. The other sprinklings that I’ve tried are ‘dry mango powder’, ‘zaatar’ spice mix, a combination of sweet and spicy with ‘paprika and jaggery powder’ and an intense flavour combining ‘freshly ground black pepper powder and melted garlic butter’,” she explains. Eating popcorn during movie time is a ritual at her place, she says.

Ellen Buckler Jose, who comes from a mixed background and has experimented with different kinds of food, came across a recipe online and she prepared her own version of it, calling it ‘Asian fusion’. “I tossed the popped kernels in melted butter, sugar, seaweed, roasted sesame seeds and parmesan cheese.

It has a nice sweet and salty exotic taste. Sometimes, I even add a hint of soya sauce to it,” she says.

Meanwhile, Monika Manchanda, blogger at ‘Sin-A-Mon Tales’, surprised her friends at home with a unique flavour that worked well. “I chopped some bacon strips and caramelised it with a little maple syrup to balance out the sweet and salt in the mix. Everyone loved it. Now I can’t wait to try out this ‘gin and tonic’ variation that I was
reading about last week. For the Diwali party, perhaps!” says Monika.

Apparently, 4700 BC is the year in which the first evidence of popped kernels was found in the caves of Peru. And that’s precisely what Chirag Gupta named his gourmet popcorn store, which has a branch in the city. “When I returned from abroad, I thought of doing something new along with a friend of mine. We researched and realised that there wasn’t really any gourmet popcorn around and we could bring that in. The idea has clicked with people,” says Chirag.

They have four flavour categories with multiple sub-categories. Within ‘cheese’, there are flavours like ‘sour cream ‘n’ onion’, ‘barbecue’ and ‘cajun’; within ‘chocolate’, there’s ‘peanut butter’, ‘biscotti’ and ‘nutty tuxedo’; the caramel section has ‘classic’, ‘mocha’ and ‘nutty’ and the candy category has ‘magical rainbow potpourri’ which is an assortment of fruit flavours. One can take a pick and chomp on any that tickles one’s taste buds.

Go on then and give it your own twist for no matter how full you are, there’s always room for some popcorn, right?