The movie theater owner who first thought of charging the price of admission just for a bag of popcorn has got to be one smug cat. While Hollywood makes blockbuster motion pictures with budgets the size of some countries’ gross national products, Mr. Smug whips up a batch of popcorn and drives his fork lift loaded with profits all the way to the bank. If only he hadn’t stopped there he might truly have made some money.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add 3 kernels of popping corn and, when they pop, add the rest of the popping corn. Cover the pot and shake gently until the corn starts to pop. Shake vigorously over the heat until the popping subsides, cracking the lid occasionally to allow the steam to escape. (Trapped steam makes the protein in the corn toughen.)
Step 2
Remove from the heat and pour the popcorn into a serving bowl. Drizzle the butter over the top and toss with tongs or two butter knives to coat evenly. Divide the popcorn into six bowls and sprinkle one type of salt over each (see below). Serve immediately.
Papohaku white
Step 3
A flavor combination of super-buttered movie theater popcorn, amusement park caramel corn, and something you might nibble on in the plush shadows of the Ritz Bar in Paris.
Amabito No Moshio
Step 4
The savory one-upmanship of pasta speckled with Parmesan cheese, minus the pasta Parmesan: the Platonic form of umami.
Fleur de Sel de Camargue
Step 5
The one-salt remedy for impromptu cocktail parties when you forgot the cheese, fruit, and prosciutto; lavished with sweet cream butter, and speckled with fleur de sel de Camargue, popcorn radiates your love and hospitality.
Kala Namak Fine
Step 6
It’s like trying to eat scrambled eggs off a subwoofer of a surround-sound movie about Mount Vesuvius erupting over the cowering residents of Pompeii. Envelop yourself in the exotic sensations of faraway lands . . . as they are being destroyed.
Iburi-Jio Cherry Smoked Sea Salt
Step 7
Flavors hover between the animate world and the eternal brightness of the elements, like stepping from an Arctic blizzard into a brothel.
Black Truffle Salt
Step 8
Nature’s contraband in snackable form. Lick your fingers, don’t bite them.
