This is another term for popcorn. When popcorn was brought to the first Thanksgiving in 1621 by Chief Massasoit’s brother, Quadequina, the early colonists called popcorn “popped corn,” “parching corn,” or “rice corn.” In 1820, it was commonly referred to as popcorn.
Parched corn is also referred to as “chicos.” According to the Webster’s New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts, chicos are “dried kernels of corn used in Native American and Southwestern stews.” Today, these are also similar to corn nuts.
