Toronto Foodie: Ian's Delicious Retro Popcorn

I recently went to Toronto to see a friend get married. Along the way, I visited other friends and indulged in Toronto's culinary offerings.

Of all the places I've lived in Canada, Ontario wins the prize for the loveliest fall. Ontario experiences autumn in a vast array of piquant scarlet, orange, yellow and faded green hues just as Victoria experiences spring in every shade of pink imaginable.

On precisely such a day like this, I made my way to Ian and Maggie's house. They live on a quiet Toronto street that's lined with late 19th century row houses that look very much like the ones in this photograph.

I should note that lugging a small suitcase filled with gift jars of peach marmalade I made this summer and bottles of raki is not the best idea on the subway.

I should also note that I should have brought a pair of gloves. Despite the sun, it was nippy that morning.

Since I was feeling chilled, Ian made tea for me and coffee for himself on the vintage gas stove.

I admired the shelves of legumes and spices while the coffee pot burbled away on the stove.

Ian is a fabulous cook. Creative and unfettered by convention, he whips up amazing dishes at a moment's notice. He also bakes impressive bread. Ian always sighs with regret when I reluctantly pass up opportunities to sample his baked wares. Wheat allergy. What can I say.

It just so happened to be Ian's birthday when I was visiting. After a day of me running about, we celebrated that evening in simple style with some of the fresh dates I bought and a gin or two.

In the middle of a conversation about the mayoral election in Toronto, Ian hopped up from the table and found the mason jar full of popcorn kernels. Little did I know what was in store for me.

My transition to accepting a wider range of what could be loosely called "health foods" (I quibble about this term. That's another post, however.) or hippy food has been slow, at best. However, due to people like Ian and Ciaran with vegetarian leanings, the transition has been accelerated. Sure, I've eaten things like tofu for decades, but that's because my parents grew up in Malaysia. Back to the popcorn.

Ian stove-popped the corn, tossed it into a bowl, and after sprinkling the snowy kernels with some olive oil, he dressed it with nutritional yeast. Yes. What had been all the rage in the 1970s and 80s was well and alive in Ian's kitchen.

Before you revolt and stop reading because the notion of yeast in anything except your bread is too disgusting for you, let me sing paens to popcorn that has this unfortunately named substance on it. With this yeast, the ordinary flavour of buttered popcorn transforms into something utterly divine; it has all the bite and sharpness of cheese, the nose parmesan presents, an ever so slightly nutty taste, a slightly rounded finish, and yes, I fell in love immediately with it. The ancient Egyptians loved it. So do I.

Ian's Delicious Retro Popcorn 

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
Olive oil
Paprika
Nutritional yeast
Salt

1. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a medium-sized sauce pan with a lid that fits well. Swirl the oil around. Add a 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels to the pot. Cover the pot and put the pot over a medium to high flame. If you have an air popper, use it. The stove top method is more useful for entertaining your friends with your culinary showmanship.

2. Shake the pot occasionally to prevent the kernels from burning and to keep things circulating. As you near the end, shake the pot more frequently and listen for the sounds of popping that's slowing down. Depending on your stove, this could happen a bit more quickly or a bit more slowly.

3. Dump the popcorn into a good-sized bowl. Drizzle the popcorn lightly with olive oil, moving the popcorn about to ensure even coverage. Don't go too crazy with the oil.

4. Start with a generous handful of nutritional yeast and break the flakes up in your hand as you sprinkle it over the popcorn. Season with paprika to taste. I'd suggest this involves about a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Add a bit of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Thyme is also surprisingly good.

5. Taste your popcorn. If a bit more salt, pepper, yeast or paprika is necessary, drizzle a tiny bit more oil over the popcorn and add what's necessary. Then let me know how much you love it.

For my Victoria readers, nutritional yeast can be purchased at the Market on Yates in the bulk food section. Nutritional yeast has the bonus of being a low-fat, low-sodium, kosher, non-GMO food.