MILWAUKEE — When it comes to popcorn, it really just doesn't get much more iconic than the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee. And the secret is out. I've learned how the theater makes its popcorn taste so good.
“I think we spare no expense. I think the simpler the recipe, the more important the ingredients are," Petey Balestrieri, the Director of Cinema Operations, said.
The secret recipe: corn kernels, salt and coconut oil. Petey Balestrieri spilled the secret to me pretty easily. He knows basically everything about the Oriental Theater's popcorn.
“This is my boyhood movie palace. I've been eating the popcorn here with nutritional yeast since I was a little kid," he said.
Nutritional yeast is kind of like their secret sauce, but a powder you add after the popcorn has popped. It's nutty and savory.
Watch the story to see the sweet, sweet popcorn pop...
“It's got that kind of, that satisfaction, the crunch, the texture, the warmth, the umami of the oil, the fat and the salt," Balestrieri said.
The key is in the kernel. They use butterfly kernels sourced from a Madison popcorn company.
“Much more delicate, moist, tender. They're like a snowflake. Each one looks a little different," Balestrieri said.
Beautiful popcorn snowflakes falling from a metal container. They receive a couple thousand pounds of popcorn seed a month.
“It's one of those really satisfying experiences, the dopamine rush, the first warm, buttery taste of popcorn," he said.
I mean, even before you taste it, there’s that smell that hits your nostrils as soon as you walk into the theater.
“We are definitely pumping that smell into the air," he said.
You really just don't get more iconic than the Oriental Theater's popcorn. It's buttery, tasty, salty, and the perfect movie snack.
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