Popcorn, while simple and straight forward, is the vehicle for many personal indulgences. From the beginning, I have always loved butter, rich decadent butter and popcorn is an ideal medium. From the simple we have witnessed the sublime: black truffle popcorn has garnered some press, and we have enjoyed eating it in the kitchen. Yet for us popcorn has become a great outlet for us to share our flavors from the kitchen. We were giving away our hot sauce, smoke and fire(smoked habanero chili and pickled ramps) at an event but we needed a way to share the flavor without scalding tongues. Popcorn came to mind and I like caramel corn so we decided to make the spiced-caramel popcorn; and in the place of sugar we used maple syrup for a richer flavor. Since then we have also made smoke and smolder(smoke jalapeno and pickled ramps) and made the popcorn with honey.
The popcorn--a childhood memory-- provided a great resource for sharing our hot sauce and similarly the stimulation to use popcorn to share our flavors and tastes.