Hi everyone, Quay Lo here. Quay Po took the day off. It seems only fair to start by explaining the meaning of the word
“Poppycock”. Here is what the Miriam Webster’s on-line dictionary notes:
pop·py·cock
noun \ˈpä-pē-ˌkäk\ informal + old-fashioned:
foolish words or ideas :
: empty talk or writing : Nonsense
Examples of usage for POPPYCOCK
“The congressman imagined that he had given a great speech,
one that speculated would be remembered in history, but he will more likely be
remembered for uttering two hours of poppycock.”
“Starting with the cherry tree, much of what was written
about George Washington's life by his early biographers was pure poppycock”
Origin of POPPYCOCK
Dutch dialect pappekak, literally, soft dung, from Dutch pap
(soft) + kak (dung)
First Known Use: 1860s
So why in the world would I be talking about “Poppycock” in,
of all places, a food blog? Given, as mentioned above, that it is an old
fashioned term and its origin is scatological, and that it follows the
well-established connection between words that mean dung, and words of beliefs, or assertions that are
untrue or nonsensical. Let me explain. Firstly the word "poppycock" is largely an American term and in its American English
sanitization of use, it became more a humorous
expression used to describe the nonsensical, the absurd, or the outright
fabrication. Nobody reallly cares about where the word came from or its relationship to the Dutch ward for dung. If you make this recipe you'll understand why that is a good thing.
How it came to be the name of a favorite confection of mine
is a bit of a puzzle. The word "Poppycock" as a proper noun was first used by a man named Harold Vair, a Detroit candy shop owner. He was selecting a name for a snack he invented initially for his own use. He was looking for something that he
himself would like to munch as he made automobile trips around his region. In 1960, the Lincoln Snack
Company of Chicago (whose roots were in a Swiss firm called The Wander Co.
founded in Berne in 1865), bought the rights to Poppycock, from Mr. Vair. I'm guessing he retired and munched on "poppycock" for the rest of his natural days. Several more corporate deals later and Poppycock is today made by
the same Lincoln Snack Co which is presently owned by the huge food
conglomerate ConAgra. It is a proud trademark in a huge family of products. Did I mention that it had been a favorite snack of mine? I didn’t consume a lot of it, as it is one of those sugary, buttery
trifles with zero nutritional value, high calories, and huge amounts of
pleasure value. In fact, I had not had any since well before I came to
Malaysia. Imagine, then, my surprise to see it on the shelves of a local
grocery here in Kuala Lumpur, a few years back. I quickly bought up four
containers of the stuff and parsed it out like a scrooge saving pennies. Alas,
it was a fleeting moment in my love affair with Poppycock as it disappeared
again from local shelves. Slowly but surely Poppycock receded in my mind until
just recently when I ran into an article about caramel corn. From that one
article I did more searching. By time I had tired of it, I had learned
that there are a million caramel
corn recipes and almost as many companies that will ship to you (for a price of
course) their version of “Gourmet” caramel corn. They almost always say that
word in their name or their descriptions: “Gourmet”. Many of them add some nuts
to their mix. Some of them added flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, and even
coffee. All of them were expensive. VERY expensive. But the one thing I noticed
was that all those recipes I read featured pretty much the same recipe and instructions
for the basic caramel corn. That was when I decided that making the caramel corn was
easy, and that insinuating some nuts into the mix seemed to be just as easy. I ended up
having to tweak the recipe a little but not much. A little extra step and the
addition of some vanilla and some sea salt seemed in order. It wasn’t enough to
alter the basic flavor profiles of roasted nuts, popped corn and caramel
candy). If you want to add a favorite nut (no, I don't mean your husband), or drizzle
tempered chocolate over the whole batch instead of working with hard caramel,
feel free.
Poppycock Caramel Popcorn, Almonds, and Pecans
1 cup whole almonds
10 cups popped popcorn
2 cups brown sugar packed tightly
1 cup butter
1 cup corn syrup
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Medium course sea salt to taste
Place almonds and pecans on a cookie sheet and roast in an
oven set to 150°C (300°F) for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool in a large mixing
bowl.
Pop the popcorn (about ½ cup raw kernels to make 10 cups of
popcorn), When finished add the popcorn to the nuts, (discarding uncooked
kernels) and toss to distribute throughout.
In a heavy pot with a candy thermometer affixed or ready at
the side, heat sugar, cream of tartar, butter, and corn syrup, bringing the
contents up to hardball stage. Take away from heat and immediately add baking
soda and vanilla, stirring to blend. Just as quickly pour caramel mix over the
popcorn and nuts, tossing until the caramel is formed on all of the popcorn and
nuts and large clumps begin to form. Wash and grease your hands with a bit of
butter. Press the clumps into a cool cookie sheet so that contents are
reasonably spread across the pan evenly (but not exactly). Sprinkle
medium-course sea salt to taste. Allow to cool completely, then break apart
with your fingers into smaller clumps of nuts and popcorn. Store in a zip lock bag or a large
cookie container. Turn on a favorite movie and enjoy with a friend. (This snack
goes especially well with a cup of tea or coffee)
