Popcorn really is the perfect snack.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until the last kernel has popped. It’s crunchy, comforting, and endlessly adaptable.
My love affair with popcorn started decades ago, back when I was a teenager hanging out on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Read more below.
There was a place called Popcorn Palace in one of the big shopping centres called Pacific Fair. I used to marvel at the wall of flavours. Dozens and dozens of them. Sweet, savoury, spicy, chocolate-covered, even ones tinted pink and blue. That shop did something to my brain. It made me see popcorn as a blank canvas rather than a snack with limits. You could turn it into whatever you wanted it to be. Popcorn was exciting to me.
Flash forward to 2025 and so many cinemas in my current home of London now offer vegan-friendly popcorn. The Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End, one of my absolute favourite places to watch films, does it perfectly. You get it salted, sweet, or as a mix of both. Sitting there in the dark, popcorn in hand, I still get the same sense of joy I did when I was fourteen and spending my limited funds at Popcorn Palace.
Another reason popcorn is such a hero of mine is its accessibility. It’s one of the most affordable snacks out there. A big bag of kernels costs next to nothing and can last ages. Making it at home is easy too. Heat a pan, add a bit of oil, toss in the kernels, and listen to the pops until they stop. You can keep it simple with a bit of salt or dress it up.
In my book, I included a little interlude about my favourite popcorn seasoning because it’s too good not to share. I blitz together nutritional yeast, pink salt, and chipotle powder into a fine, savoury dust. Then I sprinkle it generously over freshly popped corn while it’s still warm. It’s smoky, cheesy, and salty.
Popcorn is a real winner. It’s simple, cheap, and endlessly customisable.
What about you? What’s your favourite popcorn flavour? Leave a comment below.
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