Step right up to World’s Most Unusual Vending Machine.
The 800-pound dispenser, stationed at the McCarren Park House in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is transporting New Yorkers to the American South with curious edible novelties, including chewy “marshmallows” made out of the slimy vegetable okra and pastries filled with paste made out of the stinky durian fruit.
The Post dropped by Thursday evening to nosh on a smorgasbord of daring regional fare.
Rebecca O’Connell, 31, and Kelly Hindle, 30, had their fingers covered in a neon-red pickle brine, sticky from the fruity powder mix, after sampling the Mississippi Delta delicacy known as “koolickles.”
The sweet and tangy bite was a tickling surprise to the pair.
“That’s not supposed to be good,” O’Connell laughed. “They really don’t pull punches with the fruit punch.”
People can snag items from the vending machine by selecting goods from a touch screen, which displays a brief history of the products.
Snacks and groceries range from a bargain-bin rate $3.75 for a durian mooncake to $19.99 for chicory pecan bitters. Staff is on hand to hawk the foodstuffs in case of technical glitches.
“I’ve been waiting for this challenge,” explained Rachel Rummel, audience development manager for the website Atlas Obscura, which created the machine. “You’ve got the foothills and the water in North Carolina, you’ve got the northern part of Louisiana that nobody goes to.”
Vending machine items include:
- Chicory Pecan Bitters – $19.99
- Sea Salt and Vinegar Caramels – $19.99
- 3-inch cast iron skillet – $19.95
- Soul Food Box – $19
- Fruit Punch Pickles – $9.95
- Turkey Tamales – $8.49
- Crawfish Jelly (no crawfish included) – $7.50
- Durian Bánh Pía Mooncake – $3.75
Bags of King Cake popcorn were a popular pick, its sugary puffs scattered across several picnic tables. The earthy okra marshmallows, coated with cocoa-cashew flour dusting, received less stellar reviews.
“It tasted like a dateball, with whispers of okra,” suggested actor Sarah Mullins, 32.
One picnic table dotted with half-eaten mooncakes radiated the sweet, rotting garbage smell of durian, which is banned from many forms of public transportation and hotels in Southeast Asian countries.
“I’d give this a nine out of ten,” said tech worker Timothy Tran, 36, who grew up eating the pastry as a child in Australia.
The machine, which was produced in partnership this year with marketing organizations for Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina and Mississippi, will be in Brooklyn through Oct. 10.
