Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good

http://www.rense.com/general7/whyy.htm

by rms • 18 years ago

52 33 18 years ago

rense.com

ars• 18 years ago

Something I read in there makes me want to buy a bottle and visit local swimming pools..... :)

sfk• 18 years ago

What a waste of words in that article. I've rarely encountered fries that taste worse than McDonald's Fries.

pmjordan• 18 years ago

As the article says, "taste" (mostly smell, really) is highly subjective and influenced by experience and the tastes of people around you, especially as a child. Many people seem to be trained such that they perceive McDonald's as tasting good. Personally, I agree with you on its taste though.

electromagnetic• 18 years ago

I don't find McDonald's fries particularly smell of anything. I don't really dislike the taste, but for me the texture is poor. I was born and raised in England, so I had Fish & Chips and the invariable logic where I lived was the bigger the better so you could literally find a 'fry' that was half an inch thick and instead of being deep fried they're only fried until they're cooked and crisp on the outside.

My wife thinks McDonalds fries have the perfect texture, me personally I think they're sticks of fried vegetable fat with the potato extracted.

pfedor• 18 years ago

To the contrary, perceiving McDonald's food as tasty is the natural state, that's why children love McDonald's. Only later some of them become liberal intellectuals and train themselves into not liking it.

tptacek• 18 years ago

A lot of very credible food writers disagree with you; for instance, when Jeffrey Steingarten wrote an essay comparing gourmet ketchups to Heinz, he used McDonalds fries as the vehicle for them because of their high quality. I don't love them either, but still.

nuclear_eclipse• 18 years ago

I worked at two McDonald's off and on while in high school and university, for about a total of three years combined, and I have to say that, unfortunately, I still love the way their burgers taste better than any other restaurant chain. It's something I've enjoyed every since I can remember, and that's probably a large influence.

However, I will agree that while I still like their fries, I much prefer the fries sold at Burger King and other various "local" chains, like Steak 'n Shake, etc...

Brushfire• 18 years ago

mmm... steak n shake. Perhaps the best after-bar food ever. Ironically, their fries suck.

josefresco• 18 years ago

Formatted for an iPhone or just a throw back to when 640x480 was the common res? Either way, widen your content table!

nihilocrat• 18 years ago

<TABLE WIDTH="415" etc etc

Looks like it's a throwback, considering the 90s styling of the site.

ks• 18 years ago

Last-Modified: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 04:50:03 GMT

johnyzee• 18 years ago

Very interesting. Seemed to be pretty balanced too, contrary to the popular 'food additives == evil' meme. I was actually surprised at the extent of natural ingredients this industry relies on.

I liked this piece:

"A typical artificial strawberry flavor, like the kind found in a Burger King strawberry milk shake, contains the following ingredients:

amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent."

fbbwsa• 18 years ago

i love the taste of g-undecalactone. and the sweet, slightly citrusy overtones remind me of freedom.

isobutyl anthranilate is only so-so though.

mtts• 18 years ago

Yeah, but natural strawberry flavor, you know, the flavor of strawberries contains a lot of these chemicals as well.

yummyfajitas2• 18 years ago

Why are we posting articles from Rense? It's a known nutjob conspiracy site:

"Fort Stockton, Texas - A Football Field Sized Boomerang Shaped UFO"

http://www.rense.com/general76/footufo.htm

"War On Iran: The Perfect Storm From Hell"

http://www.rense.com/general82/perf.htm

"Need A Cooker? Use Your Cell Phone" (Describes using a cell phone to cook an egg.)

http://www.rense.com/general72/cellcook.htm

"Rense UFO DataPage"

http://www.rense.com/ufo/ufo.htm

MisterMerkin• 18 years ago

Because even nutjobs are right some of the time.

yummyfajitas2• 18 years ago

Yes, but it's pretty tough to figure out which times.

Though I suppose the fact that this article is actually just copied (plagiarized?) from The Atlantic may lend it some credibility...

jcl• 18 years ago

Would you feel better if the article was posted on the Atlantic Monthly site instead? Or printed in a best-selling book?

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/01/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Food_Nation

narag• 18 years ago

Some years ago, I saw a tv documental that was almost identical to this text: McDonalds' fries, natural vs. artificial aromas, the New Jersey hub of fragance companies... I thought that this was a transcript of the show, except the tv version included interviews. Anyway, it doesn't seem conspiratory at all.

dcurtis• 18 years ago

This actually is an excerpt from a very good book called Fast Food Nation.

rufo• 18 years ago

Two words: Five Guys.

ryanb• 18 years ago

Five Guys is really blowing up right now. I'd like to see the figures on exactly how fast they're growing, but I see new Five Guys chains popping up everywhere and they seem to be extremely popular.

fallentimes• 18 years ago

I used to live in DC and miss it so much. It's a family owned business (last time I checked) and when the founders' kids were about to graduate from high school he gave them the choice: start Five Guys or go to college.

From the looks of it, they made the right decision.

rms• 18 years ago

Too inconsistent... the DC area ones are great but the burgers are always a little dried out at my local one.

Prrometheus2• 18 years ago

Great fries and the best thin-style burgers in the world.

However, if you're looking for the best thick-burgers in the world, you have to live in Atlanta and patronize the Vortex.

weegee• 18 years ago

I hate the way McDonalds consistently undercooks their fries. They come in the bag limp and chewy instead of crunchy. I too prefer fries elsewhere, Dicks Drive-In in Seattle has delicious fries, for example.

netcan• 18 years ago

Good article. Makes me want Jelly Bellies.

Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good

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