A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Popcorn. Trail Food.

The fact that Indians popped corn is well known, it is also said that they used it as a trail food. How they popped it is a matter of discussion. Some say it was popped on hot rocks in the fire, others say it was hot sand in the fire. Others still say clay pots were used. It is my opinion that any or all of these could be true, but I will bet that they were also popped on the cob. Why? because that is the way we roast our corn, it seemed the natural way to do it. No cleaning, no fuss and best of all no containers needed.

I made some fresh popcorn today in an iron kettle. We use it as an inexpensive breakfast cerial.

However, when carried on the trail a lot of all ready popped corn can take up a lot of room, so I personally would like to carry loose corn and pop it in camp. I am going to try growing some this year and do some experimenting. I don't want to have to carry a clay pot about with me, that is not practical. I can't use my tin lined kettle because I could damage the tin lining. I don't know how much heat it can take without liquid in it. So I am going to have to come up with another natural method. Perhaps heated rocks in a earthen hole covered with sticks? Sounds like it might be a goer.

4 comments:

Bob said...

Something I've wanted to ask is, How does popcorn differ from pinole?

Gorges Smythe said...

Back in the day, I prefered to grow the Australian Blue Hull-less.

Keith said...

Good question Bob. I will check and post on it next.
Regards, Keith.

Keith said...

Thanks Gorges, I will have to look that one up. See if it is still available.
Regards, Keith.