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laughingmeeses t1_ja0o8zm wrote

Reply to comment by SeiCalros in TIL: "Popcorn" is not simply a descriptive term, but also refers to a specific variety of corn which has the unique characteristic of being able to pop, while the other five varieties of corn do not have this capability. by greenappletree

Anyone who's spent any time at all around food, in this case corn, should be able to clearly differentiate what the heck they're looking at. It's a bit like someone looking at a red onion and assuming its the same as a white or yellow onion. It's not hard to be vaguely cognizant of how things are different.

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SeiCalros t1_ja0qluc wrote

if it were that intuitive it would be true of pickles for cucumbers and of button mushrooms for portabello

unlike corn - both of those things are the result of th processing methods

certain cucumber cultivars are more likely to be used for pickles but theyre also smaller because theyre picked earlier - and portabello mushrooms are the SAME cultivar as button mushrooms - theyre just picked later

so to a person with a bit more knowledge than you have in general cooking and biology but a little bit less knowledge for corn specifically - maybe it isnt so obvious that popcorn kernels are a different cultivar from sweet corn kernels - maybe they just assumed - for example - that they were picked young and stripped differently from the cob

after all - its pretty obvious from comparing corn on the cob to frozen or canned corn that they cut the base of the kernel when processing it normally - which would prevent it from being popped even if it was the right cultivar

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laughingmeeses t1_ja106fe wrote

Pickles =/= cucumbers.

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SeiCalros t1_ja12ueh wrote

yeah and button mushrooms arent portabello mushrooms either - but theyre the same species

but if you go to any supermarket in north america and find a jar marked 'pickles' it will probably contain cucumbers in brine

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laughingmeeses t1_ja13j4t wrote

Only in the US. Travel to literally any other country in the world that has a history of pickling and they'll look at you like you're daft if you assert they're just cucumbers. I literally have a jar of "picles" in my fridge that is mostly cauliflower with some carrots thrown in.

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SeiCalros t1_ja14f54 wrote

i didnt write picles i wrote pickles

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laughingmeeses t1_ja14mg4 wrote

I get that English might be the only language you know; I'd like to imagine that the word is pretty recognizable.

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SeiCalros t1_ja15ieb wrote

mhmm and i understand you dont speak it well - but in english the word pickles generally refers to pickled cucumbers, and other pickled products are usually referred to as pickled [x] such as pickled carrots or pickled eggs

my comment is referring to the fact that those cultivars appear fundamentally different to a person like you - but part of the difference is that they were picked earlier on in their life cycle

a person who used your logic on popcorn - portabello mushrooms - pickled cucumbers - and bean sprouts - could be wrong on all counts except for the popcorn which is a distinct cultivar

but all the other ones are the same cultivars just picked at a different stage in their life cycle

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laughingmeeses t1_ja166j6 wrote

No, that's the funny thing. In English, pickles only refers to pickled cucumbers in the US. If you ordered pickles in the UK you'll be sorely disappointed by what you're served.

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SeiCalros t1_ja178ba wrote

kinda getting off topic

pickles/cucumbers - button mushroom/portabello - mung beans /bean sprouts - dried/baked beans

there are all kinds of differences in food that can result from the cultivation and preparation rather than the cultivar

most people in north america would be familiar with the example i gave and wouldnt have a reason to believe that corn would be any different

in fact - the difference between sweet corn and popcorn is relatively mild compared to most of those other examples

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