Pass the popcorn

[Schwadevivre]

Where did maize come from? The answer appears to be a plant called Teosinte (Tay-o-sintay) but this crop appears to be near impossible to process, unless you pop the kernels.
From HHMI Biointeractive

When corn is heated, moisture inside kernels turns to steam, which cannot escape through the tough outer hull of the kernel. Under pressure and heat, the starch inside kernels becomes gelatinous. As the pressure continues to mount, the hull finally ruptures with a “pop” sound, as the water vapor is released. Suddenly released from pressure, the starch becomes an airy puff that rapidly solidifies as it cools. The wild grass teosinte, the ancestor of corn, also produces edible popcorn. Was the transformation of teosinte to corn the result of a 9000-year-old experiment to produce better popcorn?