Food at the Binz: Part 8 In a Series
Apparently some sort of spice was pulverized when the chicken was breaded a couple of nights ago, resulting in green chicken at the Binz Refectory. It was not a particularly bright green, but a rather sickly green - almost the color that people turn when they are very sick. We were assured by Mary (she is the sandwich lady, who is a very nice person — her son actually goes to school here) that the chicken was normal. This wasn’t anything remarkable, though it does merit note, especially given Food at the Binz’s remarkably long silence.
But no, noble readers, the real story lies in the beverages. I experienced something not particularly disgusting but truly novel in my pre-meal beverage gathering during the night of the green chicken. This will require some background. At your local fast-food restraurant and at most places that serve pop (or soda, as your geographical region may dictate) in large quantities, they do not simply have large amounts of liter bottles lying about. This is not cost effective. So, in a process regulated by beverage companies (who want their product to taste as it was intended), tap water is purified, carbonated, and mixed with soda syrup (the high fructose corn syrup, flavoring, and caffeine) on site and as the beverage is dispensed.
Enter me, who never gets pop, but who’s eye was caught by a missing label above one of the pop dispensing buttons. “Try it!” urged Dan, the ever-adventurous soul. I placed a glass beneath the nozzle and hit the button. Cold transparent liquid immediately filled my glass. I didn’t think much of it, and resolved to find more interesting new things to try. Upon returning to my seat, I tried the mystery liquid. It was heavily carbonated water. I mean, this stuff had the bite of a cola, with the strange taste that only an old purifier can impart to St. Paul municipal water. I was brought back to the days of “H2Oh!” — that horrid carbonated water drink that was so popular before Aquafina and Dasani tackled the market.
Green chicken and really fizzy water = our cafeteria. Yes, yes. We’re considering adding orange juice to the fizzy water to see if we can homebrew some “Slice” knock-off or something. Spring-fever, indeed.
Comments
Dan McKeown
If I recall correctly (and I do) the H2Oh! usually had some type of flavoring so not entirely like the formerly popular beverage, but very close.
Alexander Micek
Anyhow, we mixed it with orange juice … and it is not half bad.