That’s right I went for it. Yesterday, while wondering around Manhattan trying to figure out what to get for lunch, I remembered that Richard Blais was going to be at Garrett Popcorn giving out samples of his popcornsicle. I should remember, considering I blogged about it. So I took a walk over to 46th and 5th, and the line was out the door. It was hot out, I was really hungry, and I didn’t feel like waiting, so I gave up before I even attempted it. As I was walking past the store, the smell of caramel, butter and cheese was so inviting, I couldn’t resist. I turned around, marched back and stood online. I was online for literally about 6 minutes – that’s how fast it went. Almost at the front, a few girls in front of me were giving Richard the googly-eyes and telling them they loved him. He blushed but was very sweet and gave them their frozen treats, sending them on their way. When I got up there, I asked if I could take his picture and he responded "You sure can!" And so I did:
As you can see, his hand (covered in a very heavy glove which you cannot see here) is in the bucket of liquid nitrogen, where he was coating the balls of popcorn. He handed me mine and I accidentally touched the glove and burst out "Holy shit that’s cold!" I have such a trucker mouth-but he laughed so it’s all ok. I tried to take a picture of the popcornsicle so you could see the "cold fog" coming off of it, but it was kind of breezy making it all the more difficult. I used my hand to try to block it, but I don’t know how well that worked:
Not the best shot. But trust me it was cool. And I didn’t expect it to taste good at all, but it was surprisingly delicious. Mine was a mix – or "remix" as Richard himself put it – of both flavors, caramel and cheese popcorn, then flash-frozen. It had that balance of salty and sweet, plus it was frozen so it really does make a great summer treat. Who knew?
