KuKuRuZa gourmet popcorn

Did you know that popcorn appeared in the 1920s and its popularity zoomed during the Great Depression? Times were tough, but it was a treat people could still enjoy. Here we are 80 years later living with economic woes and what’s opening downtown? A popcorn shop! Opening during a recession was not actually the business plan of KuKuRuZa, but it is an interesting connection. The difference here is that this is not your depressed grandfather’s popcorn.

Co-owner George Marema, a Midwesterner and insurance agent, moved to Phoenix for work. Sitting in a movie theatre in 2000, he wondered why we have specialty coffees and other products, but no gourmet popcorn. As a guy who likes to cook, he went back to his kitchen and created his own caramel corn. He had some success, but without real food knowledge, he knew he couldn’t execute his idea.

Photo above: Robert Hicks (l) and George Marema (r)

Co-owner and popcorn chef Robert Hicks attended the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park and owned a restaurant in Massachusetts for seven years. Separated as children and adopted by different parents, Robert and one of his sisters found each other (eventually all five siblings re-connected). She lived in Phoenix and he decided to move there, taking a sous chef job in a French restaurant. One day George walked in and handed Robert a Styrofoam cup with foil over the top and asked him to try it. "It was during lunch rush, but I did go into the back and try it. It was tasty," smiles Robert. A partnership was born.

By 2003, they had opened a KuKuRuZa store in Tempe, Arizona, and now have a loyal international online and local following. Unfortunately for those locals, that shop will be closing down as both Robert and George have moved to Seattle. "We’re too small to have stores that far apart. We can do this business anywhere and I prefer to live in Seattle. We were snowbirds for awhile but now my wife, two kids and I have moved up permanently," says George.

Like any food, what makes their popcorn so good is the quality of ingredients. "We air pop the corn. There is no oil involved. It’s a clean palate and you can build flavors from there. It’s also healthier and tastes better," explains George. They use several different varieties of corn. "A lot of caramel corn uses what is called mushroom corn—it has that big surface. But it’s a lot of air; it tastes like nothing," George continues. "We mix in white and yellow popcorn for a better flavor." They use the finest ingredients including real corn syrup, a unique sugar from a local specialty sugar retailer that’s used in the pecan praline and intense caramel corn, and custom roasted and salted nuts. No preservatives are used. "Store-bought popped corn has a ‘use by’ date a year out. Our product is good for several weeks," says Robert.

They keep their list to about 25 different flavors, but always have about 40 in their minds. "We don’t want to overwhelm people," laughs George. Flavor ideas hit at odd times. "Our Rocky Road popcorn came to me when I was asleep. It actually woke me up, then I went back to sleep. By 6 a.m., I had to get up and make it," recalls Robert. It includes caramel, pecans, almonds, cashews, marshmallow, chocolate and white chocolate.

Another dream creation is the KuKuRuZa Krunch—a fancy nut brittle with cashews, almond and pecans enrobed in their scratch brittle caramel recipe. Black Forest Cherry with Chocolate Kirsch is a new flavor with Cherry Popcorn base layered with dark chocolate-covered sliced dark cherries and cocoa nibs, infused with Kirsch liqueur. Upcoming Christmas flavors include Egg Nog with Chocolate Brandy, Peppermint Krackle, Candy Cane Caramel and Gingerbread Frost. There’s an "After 5" collection with items like burgundy cheddar cheese and Irish cream coffee with white chocolate. And for purists, there's popcorn with French butter and sea salt (right from the grinder).

KuKuRuZa’s shop will be early Americana with music from the 20s and 40s, six-to-eight old-fashioned bottled sodas with real cane sugar (remember Bubble Up?) and Dry Soda. Lots of sampling will be going on and there will be a rotating flavor of the day. Large windows will allow pedestrians to see inside. All the cooking is done right in front of the customers—chocolate is tempered behind the counter, poppers are in sight, even the alcohol is added into the mix right there. Corn is made in small batches every half hour throughout the day. Surely the smell alone will create a new cadre of addicts. "It took about two years to find the location," says George. "We wanted to be in the main core downtown and that means Pike and Pine to me. When the Kress Building became available, it seemed perfect. It was built in the 1920s and fits our nostalgic theme."

If you can restrain yourself from eating it immediately, the popcorn comes in various sizes and packages. Bags come in quarts, half gallons and gallons. Decorated tins come in 1, 2, 3-1/2 and 6-1/2 gallons and a 2-gallon variety box offers four different items. In all cases, you can have one kind of corn or a combination. KuKuRuZa is very big on customer service and will customize your purchase. They can even create a popcorn to match your personality, business or party theme. As time goes on, they think it might be fun to partner with local chefs or chocolatiers to create Seattle-centric popcorn. Because they can customize everything, the popcorn makes great gifts and is used frequently by caterers and at weddings as party favors.

KuKuRuZa is all about creativity, fun and good flavors. In most Slavic languages, kukuruza means "corn." Hard to pronounce? Like Robert says, "As long as you’re smiling when you say the word, you’ve said it right!"

Connie Adams/November 2008

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