Popcorn

Popcorn, also known as popping corn, is a type of corn that expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Popcorn is able to pop because, like amaranth grain, sorghum, quinoa, and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and dense starchy innards. When heated, pressure builds within the kernel, and a small explosion (or "pop") is the end result. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns.

There are various techniques for popping corn. Along with prepackaged popcorn, which is generally intended to be prepared in a microwave oven, there are small home appliances for popping corn. These methods require the use of minimally processed popping corn.

A larger-scale, commercial popcorn machine was invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century.

Unpopped popcorn is considered nonperishable and will last indefinitely if stored in ideal conditions.

Depending on how it is prepared and cooked, some consider popcorn to be a health food, while others caution against it for a variety of reasons. Popcorn can also have non-food applications, ranging from holiday decorations to packaging materials.

Popcorn (music style)

Popcorn (sometimes Belgian popcorn or oldies popcorn) is a style of music and dancing first established in Belgium in the 1970s and 1980s. The style includes a wide variety of mostly American and British recordings of R&B and pop music made between the late 1950s and mid 1960s, often relatively obscure, and characterised by a slow or medium, rather than fast, tempo. The style has been described by musician and writer Bob Stanley as "possibly the last truly underground music scene in Europe".

Origins

The Popcorn music scene first developed from dances held at the Groove discotheque in Ostend, where mid-tempo soul and ska music played by DJ Freddy Cousaert became popular in the late 1960s. Cousaert was later responsible for Marvin Gaye's move to Belgium in the early 1980s.

In September 1969, a café, De Oude Hoos, opened in a converted farm barn at Vrasene near Antwerp, and began holding dance competitions on Sunday afternoons. Soon up to 3,000 people began attending each week, dancing in a "slow swing" style to soul and funk records. The café was renamed the Popcorn - after the James Brown hit "The Popcorn"—and DJ Gilbert Govaert began playing more early soul and other records from the 1960s to suit the dance style. According to Stanley: "The beat was slow and slightly rickety, martial drums rolled under melancholy minor chords—the Marvelettes' 'Please Mr Postman' (1961) would have been typical."

Popcorn (Luiz Henrique and Walter Wanderley album)

Popcorn is a 1967 jazz album by vocalist Luiz Henrique and organist Walter Wanderley with band on Verve Records. The album features Luiz Henrique, guitar and vocals, Walter Wanderley, organ; Sivuca, accordion; Romeo Penque, flute, Affonso de Paula, percussion, with James Kappes, Gary Chester, or Donald MacDonald on drums.

Tracklist

11 tracks: (1) Blue Island; (2) Agua De Beber; (3) Amazonas; (4) The Girl From Ipanema; (5) Summer Samba; (6) Taste Of Sadness; (7) Crickets Sing For Ana Maria; (8) Canto De Ossanha; Happy Birthday; Cabaret; Popcorn;

References