And now from KFC...

From yesterday's business section of the NYT, a new low point in our national diet

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/business/yourmoney/06goods.html

[Robin Garr]

Oh, bleah! Is that thing escaping into the wild? They've been test-marketing it here in the Homeland of KFC for over a year. I tried one out of curiosity last summer, with the one-word review, "Gross!"

The official name of the company is "Yum!" with an exclamation point, by the way. It's interesting to note that the NY Times copy editors seem to have decided not to let them use it.

It's been on the market out this way for quite some time as well. All of your calories and fat intake for a week in one tidy little bowl of glop.

[David M. Bueker]

Soylent Green is...chicken & mashed potatoes!

[Jenise]

I've seen that adverised out here too. But let me tell you--nothing, NOTHING could be worse than the Boneless chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce. A few weeks ago I was out doing errands and starving. I did not have time to stop for anything, but when I passed a KFC-with-drivethru that I didn't even know existed in that part of town I stopped and bought said item.

I don't know what they put in the sauce, but it had a rancid petroleum odor and tasted rather nasty (and I love good Buffalo wings, no wimp here) and it adhered them to each other and my fingers like super-thick super-glue. Napkins were completely ineffectual at wiping it off--instead they shredded immediately upon contact. How on earth they ran this through all the public tests we know they do and decided that THIS flavor and THIS texture were what America wanted, I can't even begin to imagine. It is the single grossest 'fast food' I've ever had, and by a pretty long shot.

Death to KFC.

My 17 y.o., the who is maybe, sorta, possibly thinking about becoming a chef, the one who makes the best creme caramel I've had...

LOVES this.

Being a good cook doesn't seem to negate being a 17 y.o male with a bottomless pit, cast-iron stomach.

b

Gross. Col. Sanders must be turning over in his grave. He thought KFC's Extra Crispy recipe was a travesty--"fried dough balls" was his comment. Whatever would he have thought of this?

I'm reminded of the restaurant scene from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life", where the grossly obese Mr. Creosote places his order at the three-star gourmet restaurant:

Creosote: I'll have ze lot.
Waiter: Everything on the menu? Do you want them separately, or all mixed together?

KFC's providing the latter option.

-Paul W.

Barb,
my 17 yr old stepson can be passionate about food and cooking (he has a parttime job in the area's top bakery, and will cook fairly elaborately at home), yet often go to the grubbiest diner or fastfood joint. He chose Nobu for his 18th birthday dinner later this month. I cut out this article and left him a note "think Nobu is too expensive, doing this instead" on a picture of the....bowl? casserole? thing?

It doesn't sound (or look) too attractive to me.

About the only fast food (if it be termed such) that I will still occasionally get if I'm on the go is grilled sausages on a bun sold by those portable vendors with the umbrellas covering their setups. At least I can put whatever I want on the thing afterwards. But .... "glop in one" doesn't sound too appetizing.

“It was difficult for customers to eat our food on the go,” Ms. Scheibmeir said.

Okay, third post and I'm going to rant....gently.

I got back from my first ever trip to Europe a few weeks ago. My wife and I spent 2-1/2 weeks in Switzerland, Italy and France. It is not an overstatement to say that my food life was changed by that trip.

I've always been a bit of a foodie, but before the trip fast food was something I could handle. A Whataburger there, a Taco Cabana here...etc... I thought that was the only way to get food fast....

Then in Italy I discovered the joys of having the bakery next to the butcher, next to the cheese maker...freshest...nicest sandwich you'll EVER have. No need for fancy condiments, sauces, etc. Even the pre-made panini in the bars were fantastic, good tomato, fresh mozzarella...speck...etc!

When will we figure this out over here? I mean is it really that hard?

Oh, and being able to go to the same place for espresso, gelato and booze was GREAT. You could get your morning, noon and nighttime pick me up in the SAME PLACE!!! BRILLIANT!

Scott

When will we figure this out over here? I mean is it really that hard?

Scott, I'm assuming that by "here" you mean when will North Americans ever adopt a similar approach to food. If that's it, then I'm with you on this.

I've always believed that things must begin with more common appreciation for the origins of food. I think that the broader culture itself has to change; it has to purge itself of attachment to kitschy stuff and more people need to take an interest at a personal level in subjects such as farming, botany, animal husbandry, etc. How many people nowadays outside these professions actually know anything about these subjects? It's not often that you hear the average Joe saying, "I'm off to the library to read up on gardening or botany" - and yet I think that knowing about where foods come from would be a great first step.

Also, we see food as a "manufactured" thing made by "professionals". We don't have, by and large, a small-family-farm or artisanal food culture here; it's traditionally been more of a utilitarian, mass-market approach versus an "everyone grow something for your own household" approach.

Just my 2¢.

[quote="Scott Hinson]

When will we figure this out over here? I mean is it really that hard?

[/quote]

Scott, welcome to forum. Glad you decided to post.

I think you are being a bit harsh on "over here" though. This country's ethnic neighborhoods have always been on board this train. Perhaps those not living in areas with significant numbers of immigrants never knew this way of shopping, but for us, it was the only way.

My neighborhood was filled with specialty stores - cheese stores, pork stores, bakeries, fruit stands, meat markets - and they were all busy! Supermarkets were for detergent and paper goods - nobody bought their food there.

JT

That's cute, Dale. I think you'll all enjoy Nobu more than the bowl...Heh. And if he chose that, he really does have good taste!

B

When will we figure this out over here? I mean is it really that hard?

Scott, I'm assuming that by "here" you mean when will North Americans ever adopt a similar approach to food. If that's it, then I'm with you on this..

Another part of it seems to be a belief that it takes too long to wait for things to be assembled. Our local Publix makes excellent bread for a grocery chain (in fact, it's better than some bakeries I've been to) and they offer made to order "sub" sandwiches made with Boarshead meats and cheeses on store baked breads. Yet I know several people who won't go there (or even Subway for a few of them) because "it takes too long"! Yet I can normally get in and out from the Publix deli in the same amount of time, or even less than the local McDonald's drive through that these people think is so much faster.

I really miss the various Jewish and Italian deli's of my teenage years, but I wonder if they could ever compete against attitudes like these.

more people need to take an interest at a personal level in subjects such as farming, botany, animal husbandry, etc. How many people nowadays outside these professions actually know anything about these subjects? It's not often that you hear the average Joe saying, "I'm off to the library to read up on gardening or botany"

Also, we see food as a "manufactured" thing made by "professionals".

I have been heard not infrequently, to say almost exactly those words actually.

But then again, I completely agree with you. My partner does not get why I bother to know how to make yogurt, cheese, bread, the difference in milking cows, goats and sheep and the differences in the properties of their milk, how to grow various plants and why they thrive under different circumstances, etc etc. A lot of this knowledge I have used in the past and plan to in the future, but a lot of it is just for my personal knowledge.

By the same token, he is convinced that he is completely unable to cook. At all. Not even to boil pasta. The best I can figure out, is that he somehow thinks it is some arcane secret power that is bestowed in culinary schools and the secret gathering places of restaurant staff, and the only reason that I know how to cook well is my proximity to professional chefs over the past several years. Or something like that lol.

He makes a darn good tuna melt though!