Imposter or not (Oreos that is), Hydrox ARE terrible.

Doing a quick google search, it looks like Hydrox arrived 4 years earlier.

tho, still not quite as tasty as Oreo.

http://www.attachemag.com/stories/archives/02-01/passions/passions2.htm
http://www.culturefreak.com/culturefreak/oreo.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1997/11/05/feat/feat.2.html

This BBS never ceases to amaze me. I had no idea we could go any deeper into the subject than we already had.

most people I know ruin their fries with a glob of ketchup

Ughh, exactly. I prefer to enhance my globs of ketchup by adding a fry or two.

I can't really get excited about this whole Oreo thread, but don't go dissin' ketchup ;-)

-Mike

most people I know ruin their fries with a glob of ketchup

Ughh, exactly. I prefer to enhance my globs of ketchup by adding a fry or two.

I can't really get excited about this whole Oreo thread, but don't go dissin' ketchup ;-)

Oh, and let's not forget those who those who use mayonnaise with their fries.

Fries... FRIES... don't you mean CHIPS?




Oh no... now I'm gonna get it .

Actually, I prefer to dip my fries in thousand island dressing.

"We're out of secret sauce. Here, put this mayonnaise out in the sun."
- Fast food employee, The Simpsons.

And I thought my buddy was crazy.

He was comparing "Oreos from those little 6 packs bought in NY" (vending machine size), Oreos from a normal pack bought in NY, and the same two items bought in CA. He labeled the packages (unopened) and had me "quiz" him, seeing if he could ID them by taste/etc., and he did, consistently.

I guess he wasn't so strange as I thought he was.

D

Actually, I prefer to dip my fries in thousand island dressing.



I won't say anything...Sometimes I like to use Ranch Dressing...Used to use 1K Island, but it got too sweet for me. (That and I ate too many Big Macs at one point in my life)

There's a subculture around here obsessed with dipping fries in a chocolate shake at the Char-Grill. My girlfriend in high school would go and not order a burger, which otherwise would be a capital offense. I've never understood this, as they make pretty bad shakes, IMO, but there is definitely something to be said for combining salty and sweet, especially chocolate. (Popcorn and Junior Mints -- now that's a combination!)

Actually, I prefer to dip my fries in thousand island dressing.

Fries in McDonald's sweet and sour McNugget sauce rocks the party.

On the topic of McDonald's...
http://home-news.excite.ca/news/r/011128/09/odd-mcchina-dc

MacDonald's fries are fine just plain. But any of the sauces they use on any of their products seem to also go well. I prefer the barbeque nugget sauce.

I would never put vinegar on McD's fries. Vinegar has to go on a real chip. McD's a processed and reformed potato mulch - frozen fry.

But when having Fish and Chips, vinegar is mandatory in large amounts. Malt vinegar obviously preferred. I also like black pepper, salt and ketchup with them. Yes, all four. And mayo on chips/fries is pretty damn good. I believe we probably have someone in France or the Netherlands to thank for that.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Poutine. Mmmmm.. Cheese curds and gravy-smothered fries (not cooked in clean oil either!)

Bruno

And mayo on chips/fries is pretty damn good. I believe we probably have someone in France or the Netherlands to thank for that.

Nope! Actually, French fries were invented in my country, Belgium. The French just stole the name. (Don't you just hate the French? ). Over here most people eat their fries with mayonaise, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Also, don't go comparing the Belgian mayonaise to the eg. the French! It tastes totaly different!
Bottom line : you've never eaten french fries if you've never eaten then the Belgian way!

hi.

Fries in McDonald's sweet and sour McNugget sauce rocks the party.
Actually, my absolute favourite is their Curry McNugget sauce, but I am not sure wether that is the same anywhere else in the world because the one I know is produced in Germany (by Develey). It's a shame McDonalds tries to sell its mediocre Ketchup through grocery stores, but don't do so with their superb Curry sauce.

cu,
sven

Hi

Also, don't go comparing the Belgian mayonaise to the eg. the French! It tastes totaly different!
Bottom line : you've never eaten french fries if you've never eaten then the Belgian way!

I second both statements. The average Belgian fries are much better than any other national average I could say anything about, be it french, american, british (blah, vinegar) or german (my country).
Also, a good belgian mayonaise is about the best you can get. Though I know really good french restaurants with extremely good house-made mayonaise, too. But it _is_ tasting differently.

cu,
sven

There is no curry sauce in New York. Actually, the New York metro area seems to have the least sauce choices. For McNuggets we only have Sweet 'N Sour and Barbeque. I am pretty sure that other US areas have a hot mustard sauce in addition to the other two. On top of that, they don't put mustard on the cheeseburgers. I grew up in New Jersey with mustard on my McDonalds burgers. Did they conduct some focus group that indicated New Yorkers hate mustard?

Argh, I was intending to skip my supper. No way, now !

but there is definitely something to be said for combining salty and sweet, especially chocolate.

Agreed. Apart from clasical ham & melon, try grapes, nuts and rich black bread, apples and cheese, or more mainstream ham and pineapple or venison with cranberries jam. Pancakes (thin ones, like those for creppes Suzette (sp?), filled with wallnuts and chocolate, with warm sauce made from eggs and white whine poured over, everything topped with fresh whiped cream, unsweetened) absolutely must have some salt in dough. Ah, one could go on for ages...

I would never put vinegar on McD's fries.

Neither would I, on potatoes of any kind or persuasion (except potato salad, in which case it has to be aceto balsamico di Modena (sp?) or some other form of strong vinegar made of red wine, with herbs; the choice between virgin olive oil or one made from baked pumpkin seeds is a tough one, though).

McD's a processed and reformed potato mulch - frozen fry.

In local McD french fries (we actually called them something like original French pommes frittes (sp?)) are decent: real potatoes, not potato starch granules. I was opponent of deep-freezing them myself untill I made a couple of experiments. It turned out that half-frying the sticks in not too hot oil, drying them, and later (after freezing or not) finishing frying in very hot oil produces optimal crispness outside while maintaning a degree or softness in the center. My only aditive is a lot of salt. That said, gravy is a welcome additive to potatoes that are somewhere halway between having been fried and baked (thicker sticks, baked in thin laywr of grease - preferably drippings from a nice piece of meat - in a hot oven, so that parts in contact with pan turn crisp and brown.

On Belgian mayo

I personally associate Belgium (aside from Hercule Poirot) with those wonderfull rich beers. Mayo somehow belongs to France to me, though my favourite brand is a domestic one, made here in Zagreb (I used to eat it directly from the tube when I was six or seven), as does mustard (Dijon mustard with green pepper made by Fauchon of Paris, eh...)

On McD

They do adapt somewhat to local circumstances. For example, here in Croatia the favourite burger is McCountry, made of pork rather than beef (which is probably thanks to BSE scare), but with additives and spices so that it actually has some taste (lot of fresh onions, letuce, tomatoes, hot mustard, cheese). Winter special is McBakon (which we call McSpeck - in Zagreb and whole NW of the country the colloquial word we use for bacon is a German one, like for many other things). Now they have a promotion where you can add extra slices of bacon into any burger.

Local sweet-and-sour McNuggets sauce is made from appricots. Weird! (They also have curry, mustard, BBQ, ketchup and mayo.)

I am really hungry now!

On the fries subject: In Germany, I don't know of any single McD that uses "faked" fries (made of potatoe mash), they use processed potato slices anyway (they are covered with some starch that is made from the paring, which should provide a better crispness).

Winter special is McBakon (which we call McSpeck - in Zagreb and whole NW of the country the colloquial word we use for bacon is a German one, like for many other things).

The fun thing about this is that it is called McBacon in Germany, like in most of the rest of the world (if they know that one at all).

My favourite Burger from McDonals is still the Hamburger Royal TS (tomatoe and lettuce), but that is really by _far_ outperformed by the Whopper from Burgerking.

cu,
sven

In local McD french fries (we actually called them something like original French pommes frittes (sp?)) are decent: real potatoes, not potato starch granules.

In the US, McDonald's fries aren't even vegetarian. McD adds some sort of beef product to the mash for flavor. Yum Yum.

FRIES! You haven't had fries until you've tried Thrashers fries from Ocean City Maryland. They fresh cut the potatoes then deep fry them in Fresh! peanut oil until they are golden on the outside and baked potato consistancy on the inside. Then you are offered only two toppings: salt and Heinz apple cider vinegar

My wife introduced me to them, we had to wait in line for 1/2 an hour and I was repulsed by the idea of vinegar, until I tried it. MMMMMMMM!!!!!!! they are out of this world!!!

I'm pretty sure the beef flavour is added in the fries for most countries. It is to compensate for the change to vegetable oil from lard for frying.

I have tried McDonalds in the following countries: Canada (only in Ontario), USA (Mass, NY, NJ, Pensylvania, Ohio), Portugal (Lisboa, Cascais) and Italy (Roma, Firenze, Verona).

They were all the same in flavour, with perhaps only slight difference. Local customs dictate new items on the menus, additional and alternate topings and the names of some of the products. Many European countries are supplied by McD's in the UK (this is the case for Portugal and I can't remember about Italy - I think they had some German and Austrian product packages).

The fries were identical in every McD's I've been to. Sometimes there is a difference in how much they are fried, but that is just an inconsistency that sometimes happens between restaurants. The salt amount also changes. But, McD's fries have always been processed potato. The same as pretty much any other frozen fry. It is not a slice of potato by any stretch of the imagination.

The Royale is a Quarter Pounder in North America. Why the name difference? Ask per Jules and Vern from Pulp Fiction, they don't have pounds in Europe. :)

I don't compare McD's burgers to a real hamburger. It is something that stands on its own and must be enjoyed with all the toppings associated with the specific sandwich (ok, you can make slight alterations, but never have one plain). A real home-made (or that style) burger is a thick SOB that you can east without anything and it should taste great.

That said however, the day I ever touch crap from burger king is the day there's absolutely nothing else around to eat and it's an emergency. YUCK. BK has nothing to touch the BIG MAC. :) And their new fries (to immitate McD's) are really terrible - at least here in Canada.

McD's here in Canada now has new Milk Shakes that are excellent by the way. "Triple Thick" they call them. The flavour is much more natural than the old ones, but also a bit syruppy. There are actually strawberry bits in the strawberry shake. They are VERY (very) rich (ie. seems very fatty).

Ok, so I can enjoy a meal that's over $100 per plate, but I can also sometimes enjoy the most common fast food. :) Now how many of you have any local restaurants like the small Wimpy's franchise here? You can get a burger that is 3/4 pound. Yes, 12oz! It's obviously oval. :)

Bruno

Woohoo! I finally put my Clarion back into my car and just shoehorned the empeg dock in there too! Another couple of weeks and I'll actually have everything connected to listen to "music" :)

For McNuggets we only have Sweet 'N Sour and Barbeque. I am pretty sure that other US areas have a hot mustard sauce in addition to the other two.

You don't get Hot Mustard Sauce? Oh, you have my sympathy. Nuggets with hot mustard sauce is the ultimate.

I think "fries" is the puny stuff you get in burger bars, that turn to mush when you put the vinegar on. Please don't confuse them with proper (Yorkshire) chips.

Hi.

But, McD's fries have always been processed potato. The same as pretty much any other frozen fry. It is not a slice of potato by any stretch of the imagination.

Oh well, while I know I had some fries at McD in Denver (don't remember the exact place) that where definitely made from potatoe mash, I know for sure (i.e. 100%) that the ones they use in Germany are _not_ made from potatoe mash. The kind of potatoe they use, however, is a soft cooking type (correct expression?) i.e. if cooked/fried just a bit too long, they turn into a very soft consistency inside, almost to mash. The reason I know this is that (1st) they would have to explicitly state on the menu that they using "fake" fries if they did and (2nd) I know where they buy their deep frozen pre-cooked fries and visited the factory that produces them.
Different countries however have different rules, so I won't guarantee this for any other country.
As for the BK subject: Other than McD, BK seems to have extremely varying quality levels from country to country (and possibly even within one country). I have been to some BKs that where bad that I returned the complete meal after the first bite, but our local BK is that good, that I actually would compare it's whopper to a home made Burger (though not to a real good one). I would never even think twice about doing so with any Burger McD has ever sold.

cu,
sven

I wasn't going to get into this one, but:

In reply to:

---

I know where they buy their deep frozen pre-cooked fries and visited the factory that produces them.

---

I've been to a factory (somewhere near Peterborough?) that makes fries for some of the UK burger chains, and yes, they are made by slicing spuds. Different blade spacings for different customers, and careful matching of crop availability (variety, age, etc.). More to it than you'd think, and they're still crap compared to the chip shop on the corner .