Lazy Person's Popcorn

Propercorn. Proper good name, too.

 When did popcorn become A Thing? More to the point, when did I start hovering anxiously around the coffee shop at work asking when they're getting more chocolate crackle Topcorn in?

We've got plenty of scrummy recipes for making your own popcorn, but if you're feeling lazy there are some lovely gourmet companies doing the rounds who will make it up for you. Here are some of my faves.

1) Metcalfe's skinny topcorn
This used to be sold in our local Pret, until Pret caught wind of a trend and started making their own. Poor Pret. You can salt 'n sweet all you like (preferably together, obvs) but you cannot wasabi or chocolate crackle.

Honestly, the chocolate crackle is like crack. People who don't like sweet stuff or chocolatey stuff love this popcorn. It costs 95p a bag in the shops, but if you plan on eating a ton, you can buy boxes of 12 from £9 up from the website, with free delivery if you buy two boxes or more.

2) Joe and Seph's
This has been sneaking into my life by degrees like a popped ninja. Firstly, through my trial pack for Love Your Larder's Larder Box. Secondly, the utterly phenomenal lemon and poppyseed (with caramel, mmm) has gone on sale in the Clapham Picturehouse, and thirdly, there was a bloody great concession of it in Selfridges Food Hall when I went for the first time last week.

Caramel & peanut butter. WOOF.

 From blue cheese to strawberry cheesecake, pretty much every flavour under the sun is catered for and done well, with quality ingredients. If you're feeling particularly minted and lazy, you can order packs delivered to your desk from the website: three for £12 or six for £19.95 p&p included.

3) Propercorn
That is the sort of name I can totally get on board with. They're a newish company who use proper ingredients rather than flavourings. I got a bag of their Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun Dried Tomato in a goodie bag yesterday. I can take or leave a tomato flavouring, but I adore worcester sauce - this was yummy. Considering the amount of sweet popcorn I normally snack on, it was lovely to have some savoury that didn't feel like I was adding a love handle with every mouthful. It's also rather posh: you can buy the 95p bags in Waitrose, Harvey Nicks and Eurostar. If you please.

4) Love Da Pop
I hate the name. Sorry. Hate it. But I love the popcorn - particularly their white chocolate - which tends to do the rounds at Silent Cinema, and I ADORE the way they describe their flavours. Salt and balsamic, for example, involves sharks, which are one of my favourite things ever. Behold! (click to actually behold, it's quite small at the moment)

 

What I didn't realise until I was peering at their site was that they were on Dragon's Den last year. Well done them! They're now stocked in Reynolds (£1), and pop up at Secret Cinema, pretty much all London cinema events, and music festivals, with large bags at £3.

Have you got a favourite popcorn that we should be snacking on? Let us know! Mmm, speaking of which, I haven't had any yet today.