This morning Rebecca (@bitofmomsense) of the "A Little Bit of Momsense" blog posted an entry with a rather significant blast from my past, asking about everyday vices. Hers, Pepsi (sometimes Coke), chocolate, coffee and fast food. The blast, a vintage video from Canadian band, Men without Hats. After commenting two of my past vices, I realized I forgot one from my childhood, McDonald's.

Having grown up in North America during the height of the MTV age, McDonald's was unavoidable. Eating there was an occasional treat, but I developed a taste for its golden fries. In fact, I think that McDonald's defined the single fried shoe string-style fry for a generation. So, while this foodie appreciates Belgian-style fries, he sometimes has McDonald's on his mind.

Having McDonald's on the mind may be the intention behind the rather creative "thought bubble" advertising, gracing the walls of subways. One photo of the advertising at work has been dugg heavily on digg.com.

Think Good Thoughts
Source: EpicWinFTW Website

Here is another.

Think Good Thoughts
Source: lorenzodom's Flickr stream

Unfortunately, the McDonald's dishes we have on our minds tend to be the product of marketing. Here's another installment of "As Advertised" vs. Reality:

Crispy Chicken:

Crispy Chicken as Advertised
Source: McDonald's of Jackson Michigan Menu


Crispy Chicken Box

Crispy Chicken in Reality

Big Mac:

Big Mac as Advertised
Source: McDonald's of Jackson Michigan Menu


Big Mac in Reality

Angus Burger:

Angus Burger as Advertised

Interesting Sticker

Angus Burger Box

Angus Burger in Reality

Big Mac Snack Wrap:

Big Mac Snack wrap as Advertised
Source: Health Kicker Website


Big Mac Snack Wrap Wrapped

Big Mac Snack Wrap in Reality

Big Mac Snack Wrap Opened

Promotional Buffalo Chicken Snack Wrap:

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap as Advertised
Source: Orange County Register Website


Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap Wrapped

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap In Reality

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap Opened

The various photos come from foodiePrints' archives. We go to McDonald's somewhat rarely given the sheer number of locally-owned eat-in restaurants we have come across over the years. As for what we think of its various sandwiches, they are somewhat uninspired but nothing unexpected given McDonald's menu. To paraphrase an older entry, McDonald's food suffers form achieving economies scale. Its menu is a fixed one with limited options, prepared with assembly line efficiency. Having streamlined food preparation to ensure lowest cost no matter what ingredients are seasonal, this is the food McDonald's serves.

That said, I think McDonald's food stylists and photographers are very talented, transforming the reality of McDonald's menu into what we end up being marketed.

Almost 4 years ago now (2006), McDonald's entered the coffee wars, completely replacing its regular coffee with something that it felt embodied "gourmet." Essentially, it followed the leads of 7-Eleven convenience stores, Dunkin Donuts, and direct competitor Burger King. The idea, pair a re-formulated "premium roast" coffee with items on its regular menu at McDonald's value-oriented prices. It's not a bad one. Whereas most large coffee house chains like Starbuck's offer snacks to tempt the sweet tooth, sandwiches, and the odd soup, McDonald's offers a more meal-oriented menu. McDonald's, in turn, does not offer scones or biscotti, but does sell muffins. Presumably, its intention was to increase the convenience of purchasing coffee for harried parents of Happy Meal-aged children and young adults who stop by for a quick and inexpensive bite.

In Canada, the battlefield McDonald's entered with its premium roast coffee is presently dominated by national chain, Tim Hortons (Timmies). While Timmies doesn't serve burgers or fries, its many franchises are equipped to serve a full menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It does offer scones, tarts, and, its primary product, doughnuts. Also, a number of Timmies are paired with Wendy's, so patrons can pickup burgers and fries, walk a few paces, and purchase coffee.

Me, I tried McDonald's premium roast coffee last year. I found it on par with Timmie's, quality-wise.

Left: Tim Hortons, Right: McDonald's Coffee
Please note that I prefer coffee from any one of Ottawa's Bridgehead coffee houses, that only serve fair trade coffee. I find Timmie's a necessary evil, when I am not in the walking vicinity of a Bridgehead coffee house. I very rarely visit a McDonald's restaurant, but am a fan of their fries.

On January 25, 2010, Timmies, with 500 franchises in the United States since 2008, entered the breakfast wars by offering an English muffin-based breakfast sandwich at $1.99/each for a limited time. According to the Financial Post, NPD Group Canada tabulated a statistic that "Canada's biggest coffee chain has seemingly triumphed in the breakfast-sandwich segment over competitors McDonald's and Starbuck's with a 51% share." Analysts feel that Timmies intends to further its lead by directly competing with McDonald's.

To date, Timmies has avoided the confrontation, selling bagel-based and home-style biscuit-based breakfast sandwiches. Here is one I picked up while traveling on business to North Vancouver last summer.

Tim Horton's Breakfast Combo

Biscuit-based Breakfast Sandwich
The biscuit-based breakfast sandwich consisted of a hash brown (yes...a hash brown), a sausage pattie, an egg, a slice of processed cheese. It was a very salty and greasy meal.

Regarding English-muffin based breakfast sandwiches, McDonald's McMuffin breakfast icon was created in 1972 when the late Herb Peterson (a franchisee), decided to make a portable eggs benedict. I have yet to try Tim Horton's interpretation. It will be interesting to see what Tim Horton's does with it.

A sad day passed on March 25, 2008, when Herbert Peterson, inventor of what the Associated Press deems the "ubiquitous" Egg McMuffin, died at 89.

The image (right) comes from the AM New York Blog c/o the Associated Press.

A longtime franchisee and former vice president of McDonald's advertising firm, Peterson introduced the signature McDonald's breakfast sandwich in 1972 in one of his own restaurants.

Legend has it that Peterson was partial to eggs benedict and wanted to make it convenient and portable. Traditional Eggs Benedict is an open face sandwich preparation that consists of half an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, soft poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Peterson's replaced the hollandaise sauce with a slice of processed American cheese. He formed the egg on the griddle with a Teflon circle and broke the yolk. He served everything on a toasted buttered English muffin with a slice of Canadian bacon. Initially, it was served open-faced, but customers quickly discovered that the firmed egg and cheese slice allowed the McMuffin, when sandwiched, to be eaten, one-handed and while driving.

Today, the McMuffin is recognized world-wide as a quick breakfast. As an example, here's a McDonald's breakfast featuring a Sausage McMuffin. I picked it up at a McDonald's franchise (1880 Carling Avenue) on my way to Bayshore one morning.

Sausage 'n Egg McMuffin

Firmed Egg

Greasy Sausage Patty

Hash Brown
Essentially, the Sausage 'n Egg McMuffin is a patty melt. The sausage however is quite greasy and easily passed the napkin window test. The firmed egg was also haphazardly done.

Cost: Sausage McMuffin ($1.31) + Hash Brown ($1.19) = $2.88 (including taxes)

The McMuffin breakfast sandwich form has also been widely adopted by many a food court restaurant to serve the hurried masses on their way to work. Here are two examples:

Firstly, here's a "pre-packaged" Egg McMuffin from Le Marché Info Deli at Place du Centre in Gatineau:

Pre-packaged Egg McMuffin- Front

Pre-packaged Egg McMuffin - Back

Cross Section
This McMuffin preparation features real bacon, a fried egg, and sliced mozzarella cheese. It is served chilled to room temperature, wrapped in plastic. At $2.98, it is a poor value when compare to the made-to-order McDonald's egg McMuffin, which is served hot.

Secondly, here's an "back to basics" Egg McMuffin from the Teryaki Kyoto Sushi Bar at Place Du Centre in Gatineau (and no, I'm not kidding!):

Teriyaki Kyoto Signage

Back to Basics Egg McMuffin
This McMuffin preparation features real crisped bacon, a griddle fried egg, and a slice of processed American cheese. Best of all, this toonie ($2.00) sandwich is made to order, so it is served hot. Why do I consider this "back to basics"? Well, it more closely resembles its inventor's intention: a portable eggs benedict. Cold eggs benedict isn't edible.

Unfortunately, according to August 18th's (2008) Source, Sun Media's Ottawa edition of its free commuter newspaper, an Egg McMuffin (sans sausage or bacon) carries a whopping payload of 300 calories.

Here is the breakdown:

• 300 calories
• 12 g of fat (5 g saturated, 0 g trans)
• 260 mg of cholesterol
• 820 mg of sodium
• 30 g of carbohydrates
• 2 g of dietary fibre
• 3 g of sugars

That's quite the caloric punch for a mere 139 g (4.8 oz) breakfast sandwich.

I guess there's always a price to pay for convenience. Then again, I've a feeling that Herb Peterson didn't intend his sandwich to be a daily occurrence. It doesn't make a lot of sense to eat eggs benedict (egg McMuffin-style or otherwise) everyday.

When it comes to American fast food, the much loved McDonald's tends to be the most identifiable. In fact, food from the "Golden Arches" is so recognizable that a Standford University study of North American pre-schoolers demonstrated that foods wrapped in McDonald's packaging tend to be more well received than otherwise. North American children actually preferred foods they thought came from McDonald's, even if the foods were not from the traditional McDonald's menu. This demonstrates that McDonald's mass marketing has succeeded in permeating North American culture with the McDonald's branding.

Since I grew up in the television/infant world-wide-web era, I too was bombarded with persistent McDonald's advertising. As such, I am no more immune. Though I have embarked on trying to broaden my culinary horizons, I check in on the McDonald's menu from time to time.

The following are some of my recent purchases from McDonald's:

Fries
Enjoyed by young and old alike, McDonald's shoe string fries tend to be the example by which people measure fries. They are not a bad measure. When made fresh, McDonald's fries are very crispy. Many cooks seek this glassy texture. Though, for those of us who like to taste fluffy potato in their fries, McDonald's fries can fall short. Firstly, they are not always fresh. As such, your serving may be limp and starchy. Secondly, fries this thin simply don't deliver much volume in the form of potato. Thirdly, McDonald's fries arrive at their establishments frozen. Even if the fries are flash frozen, the freezing process creates ice crystals in the uncooked fries. This affects their texture. Fourthly, I find that McDonald's restaurants are somewhat lax in their care of the oil they fry their fries in. More often than not, I find that my fries are served, speckled in dark bits that came off of previously fried foods. These carbonized bits of fried foods can be bitter.

One way to prepare great thick cut fries is to thick cut potatoes, run the pieces through a salad spinner, and fry them twice: once at a lower temperature to cook the fries and a second time at a higher temperature. This process actually removes excess moisture from the surface of the uncooked fries, and crystallizes the remaining starch.

Filet-O-Fish
Like most young adults, I have memories of my parents taking me to McDonald's as a treat. During one visit, I asked my parents to order a filet-o-fish for me. I remember a large square-shaped fish patty, which was topped with a white sauce that had green specks in it, in a soft white-bread bun. After almost 15 years, I decided to try the sandwich again.

I honestly didn't remember that the Filet-O-Fish comes with a half slice of processed cheese. This does however demonstrate how much smaller the Filet-O-Fish has become. A half slice of processed cheese was sufficient to cover the surface area of the dimunative breaded fish patty. The patty's breading was thin and softens quickly. The fish was very neutral in flavor and seemed to be a combination of processed and non-processed fish. I could distinguish some flakes, but too much of the patty was uniform. The white sauce I remembered was a mayonnaise-based sauce that borrows from the tartar sauce tradition. The green specks seemed to be pieces of pickled cucumber. They may have come from pickle relish.

All in all, the sandwich was a welcomed trip down memory lane.

Chicken McWrap
The Chicken McWrap fills the mini-sandwich niche, opened by Kentucky Fried Chicken's "Snacker" sandwich. The "Snacker" consists of a finger of breaded chicken breast in a small bun. The Chicken McWrap comes in two versions: grilled chicken breast and breaded chicken breast. Both come wrapped in a flour tortilla.

The breaded chicken Chicken McWrap consists of a thin finger of chicken breast, shredded lettuce, and some shredded cheddar cheese. It is sauced with some sort of ranch dressing. Mass-wise, the proportion of chicken to tortilla is approximately the same. Every mouthful has equal amounts of tortilla and chicken.

Having tried both the Snacker and the breaded chicken Chicken McWrap, I find that both suffer from the same shortcomings. Firstly, the breading for the chicken fingers is very thick. Breadings should only be thick enough to deliver some flavor and a little texture. If it is too thick, it tends to overpower neutral tasting foods like fish or chicken. Secondly, the breaded chicken fingers are made of very lean white breast meat that is deep fried to crisp the breading. Becuase the breading is so thick, I find the chicken ends up dry, stringy, and overcooked. The salty ranch dressing is thus necessary to make the chicken palatable.

What is the state of McDonald's fare? On the bright side, the advertised pictures of the Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McWrap accurately match what McDonald's restaurants serve. Unfortunately, the Filet-O-Fish, a sandwich of old, is smaller than I remember. The Chicken McWrap, a newcomer to the McDonald's menu, is over-breaded and overcooked. Happily, the golden fries have not changed and are as satisfying today as they were when I was a child.