You don’t have to wait untilyour teen language study trip to the U.S.toenjoy some: you might already be munching on it between the trailers and the start of your movie, or relaxing at home while watching a DVD. Today, LEC takes a closer look at the famous popcorn, a treat made popular by the Country Uncle Sam.
Popcorn, popped corn, and Tactac
Known as popcorn, popped corn, or, more rarely, tactac, popcorn is a food that has carved out a special place for itself all over the world. Made by heating corn kernels at high temperatures, popcorn comes from a very specific type of grain, commonly known as… popcorn kernels. Practical tip from LEC: for the kernels to pop properly, they shouldn’t be too moist or too dry!
A little vocabulary for your teen language study abroad program in the U.S.
Because “to pop,” as you might learn during a teen language study trip to the U.S., is the English equivalentof “to burst.” And “corn” refers, in the language of Shakespeare, to maize: a term found in France in the famous cornflakes.
C. Cretors & Company’s key contribution to popcorn’s global popularity
If we tend to associate popcorn with the United States, it is thanks to the work of C. Cretors & Company, an American firm that played a key role in establishing the food’s reputation. In 1885, the company invented a revolutionary machine for the mass production of popcorn—and its success has remained undiminished to this day!