Sometimes it helps to bitch about stuff

[Ronja]

Yay! I sent some feedback to our family's favorite multiplex cinema about the frankly horrible cacophony of smells that emanate from their popcorn stand since they introduced "enhanced" popcorn with a fancy name, which I don't even want to remember. Artificial butter flavor smell (already in itself) mixed with something that pretends to be toffee smell and another that imitates strawberry, and six or seven more sickly sweet smells on top of that - urgh!

Less than 24 hours after I used their feedback web page, I got a very nice email informing me that they are going to discontinue the "enhanced" popcorn.

I have a feeling I was not the only one revolted by the stink...

[maiforpeace]

Enhanced popcorn?

[Ronja]

Enhanced popcorn?

You really, truly do not want to know.


Edit: I checked the wording of the email answer and they used the word "mauste", which translates to "spice" or "flavoring", but I'll eat my new hat if there is one thing in those concoctions that has anything to do with real spices. Chemicals straight out of a factory (or rather: many factories), judging by the unnaturally strong smell of each and the screaming pink, yellow and other strong colors of the stuff coming out of the "spice" shakers.

[Twoflower]

Why does popcorn need all those flavors?

[Ronja]

IMO it doesn't, so

[Rum]

I guess they experiment on you guys before the 'advanced' countries get their hands on the good stuff.

[Ronja]

I guess they experiment on you guys before the 'advanced' countries get their hands on the good stuff.

Small country, far away and weird language, so the bad news won't spread too far/much: yes, it would make sense to use us a guinea pigs...

Anyway, I suspect that the "spices" needed to be at least somewhat sticky to attach to the popcorn, so they may have ended up on the upholstery, too.

[maiforpeace]

There's only one way to enhance popcorn and that is to butter it with real butter.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Cheese popcorn.

[Tero]

Ronja: flavors are chemicals. Cellulose is a chemical.

There is a bunch of products from the food industry that sound weird, but were still derived from food matter.

What was that pink meat stuff? Gross processed scraps derived from animals and treated with ammonia.

Google vanilla for a tasty chemical.

[Tero]

Wiki
Vanillin is a phe no lic alde hyde, an or gan ic com pound with the molec u lar for mu la C8H8O3. Its func tion al groups in clude alde­hyde, ether, and phe nol. It is the pri ma ry com po nent of the ex­tract of the vanil la bean. Syn thet­ic vanillin, in stead of nat u ral vanil la ex tract, is some times used as a fla vor ing agent in foods, bev er ages, and phar ma­ceu ti cals.

[Elessarina]

it's Finland.. they eat fins and stuff... ?

[Blind groper]

I guess they experiment on you guys before the 'advanced' countries get their hands on the good stuff.

Finland is the advanced country.
It is the USA that is backward. Highest percentage of religious right wingers in the OECD. Highest homicide rate. Still using primitive weights and measures.

What more do I need to say?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

A group of Marines took it on themselves to build a memorial to fallen comrades. So they made three crosses out of telephone poles and hauled them up a hill and planted them. No big deal, except it was on Camp Pendleton, US Government property. An atheist group is demanding the crosses be removed. A bunch of reactionary christians over at armchairgeneral are frothing at the mouth about that. I pointed out it was illegal and one guy comes back with:

"It's most definitely NOT illegal, because of the principle 'innocent until proven guilty'."

[Ronja]

There's only one way to enhance popcorn and that is to butter it with real butter.

How is this done exactly? Do you use clarified butter for the popping or pop them in oil and add butter afterwards or what?