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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3363 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 21, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Many weeks ago, I asked about content related to food science. I came across a New Yorker article that scratched my itch and kept the inevitable snark and superiority to an acceptable level:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/taco-bells-innovation-kitchen-the-front-line-in-the-stunt-food-wars

I'm an unabashed Taco Bell/general fast-food fan and love getting some glances under the hood.

It's a tragedy of national proportions that the Naked Chicken Chalupa was a limited-time offer. I was eating that five days a week.

Almost as bad as them canceling the Cool Ranch Doritos taco. (WHY)

I started adding beef to the NCC once in a while and agree that it was an awesome item. I've always had a fascination with multi-meat offerings - I've found that 1/4 McDonald's employees will actually build you a McGangBang.

My only challenge with DLTs is that they're so expensive. I don't maximize calories per dollar, I can afford flavor especially at taco bell, but $3 for 4 bites of Taco is pretty intense. I miss the few times I got Firey, Cool Ranch, and traditional DLTs at the same time.

If you haven't tried the flavored shells from Old El Paso, they're incredible.

Bourdieu said that food preference is the most stable indicator of one's social class of origin.

Thus I am completely unashamed to admit that I love Pizza Hut and McDonald's and all the rest of it. I am especially fond of the double Pizza Hut/Taco Bell combo locations. It always resonates with me as a deeply spiritual place.

There's a particular Taco Bell/KFC restaurant at the Alabama/GA border on I20. It has a massive kitchen, but Yum's breadth of offerings across those two brands + high traffic mean that getting decent food there within 20 minutes is virtually impossible.

The last time I was there was doubtless a dark day for the folks working in the back. 4 types of potatoes were on offer, and Taco Bell also had fried chicken. I can't imagine making $8.50 an hour and having to memorize all this crap, or make $16 an hour and managing inventory for it.

You might enjoy this food class test by researchers at UPenn.

"Your food choices could not be tied to any one social class."

My graph was pretty even among all five groups, with the highest scores in the Upper and Lower classes

As a vegetarian:

Your food choices resemble those of the lower class (28.57%).

I'm surprised at how the researchers sorted upper- and upper-middle-class food. Upper-class food just seems to be cheap food with weird extra shit in it (like gold on a soft-serve) or pairings of peasantry and luxury (grits + lobster), while shit like caviar is upper-middle class? Really?

In what world is a truffle burger upper-class but caviar is upper-middle?

Your food choices resemble those of the upper-middle class (92.86%)

This is untrue, I'm lower middle class, which is the category I scored lowest in. I eat all the things I scored somewhat low, because they're practical.

But my father is a foodie who spent much of my childhood working in fancy restaurants.

Your food choices resemble those of the lower-middle class (53.57%)

Unsurprising.

My favorite fast food has to be McDonalds. Something about the filet o fish and the rest of the burgers. Taco Bell is kinda meh.

Is there any Indian fast food joint in the western world btw?

The closest I can think of to Indian fast food in the UK is the widely available pre-packaged chicken tikka sandwich which can be found in most petrol stations or the vegetable samosas and onion bhajis in the chilled cabinet at a convenience shop. I suppose a successful Indian restaurant might open a second branch if the local market can support it and the kitchen is getting too crowded and competitive. There are a lot of places using the name Balti King but I don't think they have any connection beyond choosing the same name.

Other than that there are self-styled "food trucks" that offer various ethnic street foods but they're much more like an Instagram trap than a place that regular people will stop at to grab a cheap fast meal. The authentic British street food is the burger/kebab van that can be found in market squares, fairgounds, festivals, industrial estates and dual carriageway lay-bys across the land. They might provide a bottle of curry flavoured sauce to squirt on your chips but I don't think that counts.

We've got a couple chains serving chaat.

lmao. the og fast food!

Usually the keyword in the United States is Indian Street Food, which is pretty much the upper-middle-class framing for what fast food is selling. Generally not a chain phenomena, and outside of big cities expect to see a mix of German and American dishes as well.

I like biryani wraps, though they are often pretty heavily Americanized, and I say that as someone who doesn’t have much experience with genuine Indian food.

The UK had a handful, again mostly one-offs rather than chain, and somewhat surprisingly actually had significant spice to them (where many sit-down places will give white people some of the saddest curries as a matter of course). Indian Street Kitchen or (oddly) Pakistani Street Kitchen, expect servings more akin to American Chinese takeout and with a mix of Mediterranean on it.

Man, a biryani wrap actually sounds pretty dope. I love biryani. I wonder if I can get any near me.

I am having biryani as I read this lol, biryani wrap does sound alright imo.

I enjoy McDonald's quite a bit. McNuggets are nostalgia incarnate, and the fresh QPC is both a masterpiece of food engineering/logistics and arguably the best fast food burger obtainable across the continental US.

I don't know of a single Indian fast food joint in America, though I feel like there has to be some sort of chain at least down at the fast-casual level somewhere? the UK?

Not really, at least not on a national level in the US. Closest I've seen are some regional chains, but even then they tend to follow the same format as most non-chain Indian restaurants in the US (buffet or sit down restaurant with a good deal of takeout business).

Edit: Apparently there is a chain called "Curry Up Now" which has ~19 locations across 4 states, but I have not encountered one in my travels across the US.

imo indian food is not suited for fast food. The curry base (onions and spices) needs to be cooked till oil comes out of it for it to be properly cooked, that does not scale. Also you eating a curry with some bread is sorta messy so I do understand why this is so.

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