STAND ASIDE, HAMBURGERS AND DONUTS: What's Southern California's official foodstuff? For sure, we're known for quality fast food hamburgers, and hot dogs, too. Our donuts have won raves in all of the rave-giving places, from the humble plains to the fancy candy-coated. And do we do fish tacos the best? Well, San Diego makes a claim there, but let's say that Golden State fish tacos really are famous for a reason. And yet popcorn does not make many lists, when it comes to pinpointing the edibles that SoCalers regularly snack upon. How can this be, given that we're the movie dream factory for the planet, and popcorn is Movie-Watching's Official, Forever-and-Ever Treat (tm)? It seems like a straightforward pairing, and yet you won't find too many occasions spotlighting the bumpily kernels or our unwavering obsession with popcorn consumption. But the OC Market Place pauses each January to celebrate National Popcorn Day, a day that may have something to do, timing-wise, with where the Super Bowl falls. We'd also wager that January is the thick of awards season, so why not honor the salty icon of the concession stand at the very same time? While you discuss which theory holds more butter, popcornists, you can make your way to Costa Mesa for...
A POPCORN PARTY: "(F)ree bags of Gaslamp Popcorn" will be handed out on Jan. 17 and 18, a Popcorn Prize Wheel will spin, and Captain Popcorn, "a strolling pirate," will be in the house (or, rather, the grounds of the OC Fair & Event Center." Kaptain Kernel -- "The King of Korn" -- shall juggle popcorn balls and perform gags that involved spilled popcorn. (If he could give tips on how to make this seems like something we meant to do, as we're running for a movie theater with a popcorn bag in our hand, that would be fab.) Other popcorn-y quainteries shall pop, pop, pop throughout the weekend, too. So, seriously, donuts, hamburgers, and fish tacos: Can you invite popcorn to join you on the SoCal famous foods lists? Because a movie capital deserves to have its representative snack given its salty, in-the-spotlight due.
