The Culinary Un-Snob
I love a fine French dinner probably twice as much as the next person, but I left this in the comments on another entry, and I thought I'd do a whole blog item on it -- a paean to fast food:
Fast food is one of the triumphs of modern America. I love it. It's completely amazing that you can be hungry, drive into a lane, talk to a box, pay less than $5, and have pretty delicious food come out a window around the building a minute or two later.
http://www.utne.com/Environment/Fast-Food-Culinary-Ethos.aspx
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at October 2, 2010 10:14 AM
Great piece, Crid. I also love how I can buy food -- like the turkey leg or roast I get at Costco -- that I heat in the microwave for a few minutes, giving me a main course for the better part of a week.
Some people love to cook. I see it as a huge waste of time. The tortilla-making example in the article is a stunning difference in the way I live my life from the way other women have lived theirs for quite some time. Even though I don't eat carbs, reading that piece makes me want to take a package of tortillas off the shelf in the supermarket, put it on the floor and do a little ceremonial dance around it.
Amy Alkon at October 2, 2010 10:24 AM
Amen. I just had a double quarter pounder with cheese. It was juicy and tasty and ready nigh on immediately. Mmmm.
I do love a good homemade tortilla de maize, though.
momof4 at October 2, 2010 10:42 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2010/10/02/the_culinary_un.html#comment-1761140">comment from momof4Yum! I wish I could have that for lunch, but I'm at my writing cafe. My mother served us this horrible health food gruel when we were growing up. Gregg calls my childhood "The Gruel Years." My mother meant well in serving us "health food," but her cooking was really a form of child abuse. My sisters and I were raised to be considerate, and we almost always were, but we'd gouge out each other's eyes to get to an m&m.
Amy Alkon at October 2, 2010 10:56 AM
Added benefits:
1. You don't have to listen to anyone's stupid kids or cell phone conversations.
2. You can SMOKE.
3. You can listen to your own music.
4. Dogs welcome.
5. No dirty looks just because you may happen to take bites considered more appropriate for a Great White during a feeding frenzy.
Walter Moore at October 2, 2010 11:12 AM
"Fast food is one of the triumphs of modern America. I love it. It's completely amazing that you can be hungry, drive into a lane, talk to a box, pay less than $5, and have pretty delicious food come out a window around the building a minute or two later."
Amy, I am genuinely curious (and almost literally dying to know) how you deal with the vast amounts of carbs coming through that fast food window.
I like fast food to my own detriment, but I don't see too many low carb friendly meals at the drive through.
What is your strategy?
jerry at October 2, 2010 12:32 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2010/10/02/the_culinary_un.html#comment-1761193">comment from jerryNobody holds a gun to your head and makes you order the bun.
I order bacon cheese Angus burgers, no bun, at McDonald's, and a cheeseburger "protein-style," wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun at In-N-Out or Carl's Junior or Fatburger. Favorite is In-N-Out.
If it's breakfast, and I'm in an airport, I'll order an Egg McMuffin, no McMuffin, and at Starbucks, I get the sausage and egg muffin, no muffin, with a knife and fork. I also carry a little bag of salami and cheese in my purse in case I'm not able to get to carb-free food when I get hungry.
Amy Alkon at October 2, 2010 12:37 PM
Yes, the protein wrap at In-N-Out so rocks. I have to drive about 1/2 an hour to get one so I usually go with the pair.
Add an iced tea and i am ini heaven.
Mbruce at October 2, 2010 12:54 PM
Who are you and what have you done with Amy???
We just got our first "5 guys" cheeseburger joint which I am dying to try over in Spokane.
Best cheeseburger recipe I've found yet is 1 pound 85% lean sirloin, mix with some salt, pepper, 1 egg, a few shots of red tobasco sauce, Worcestshire, and BBQ sauce with (my addition) chopped onions. Let marinate overnight, and throw em on the BBQ, never pressing out the juices. If you pinch the middle of the uncooked burger so it almost looks like a doughnut they cook nice and even without getting dry.
I had a gourmet hot dog at a catered event about two weeks ago that was nothing short of amazing, even with no condiments added.
Eric at October 2, 2010 4:35 PM
I love fast food but I really restrict it to once a month. I crave White Castle 'sliders' a few times a year. There's nothing else like them. I really can't go to fast food places and be as strong-willed as Amy. Fries are part of the fun; that's why I go so rarely.
But it's expensive. $5 for a meal is a lot if you eat out often. But I can make a pot roast out of cheap chuck roast ($3/lb). Carrots and onions, a cup of wine in the pressure cooker for 45 mins makes several meals. I'd eat leftover roast over McD's any day.
Passepartout at October 2, 2010 4:51 PM
Tasty? yes... most of the time. Pretty? hardly ever.
I like the story about the person that went into some fast food store with a picture of the item from their marketing materials and said that they wanted one of them AND they wanted it to look just like the one in the picture.
And despite the fact that I do need to reduce my carbs across the board, there are some things I would never give up. Good bread being one of them.
Today I had a home-made grilled chicken with lettuce, onion, roasted peppers and a little mayo, on some toasted ciabatta bread. It was far better than anything from a fast food restaurant.
And it did look really good too... I walked out of the kitchen with it, and my daughter looked at me and said, "Oh my god. That looks really good... can you make me one too?"
I did, and she said it was one of the best sandwiches she's ever had.
I enjoy cooking and on a weekend, I will take a "family pack" sized package of chicken, or pork, or sirloin tips, and will cook them up on the grill with some nice seasoning.
Then into the fridge, where they are used to make lunches, or dinners, for the rest of the week.
Having that part pre-cooked lets me go in all sorts of directions depending on time that I have later in the week. I might just grab some cold out of the fridge and eat it that way. I might whip some into a tex-mex like creation... I might cut some up and make a salad with it.
Like Amy, I like the pre-cooked chickens that you can get in the store for the same reason, but I find it generally more economical and more flexible to do it myself sometimes.
Plus on a weekend day, it's nice to have the house smell of whatever your cooking in the oven...
Mark at October 2, 2010 5:17 PM
Well, there is a downside to fast food, and you don't have to be a command-and-control socialist from Chicago to acknowledge that policy is a big part of the problem.
Crid [cridcomment at gmail] at October 2, 2010 7:05 PM
I love a mushroom and swiss Hardee's Thickburger. I just can't eat fast food all the time, I get burnt out on it really fast.
Jessica at October 2, 2010 7:56 PM
Whenever my sister and I travel to Europe, we eat almost exclusively McDonald's. But, when we tell people back home that, they go, "Oh, but you're in a different country and part of that is exploring the cuisine!"
Know what, though? We travel on a tight budget. McD's is cheap and fast. You know EXACTLY what you're getting, no matter where in the world you are. So eating there lets us save time and load up on calories so we can go see all the sites -- and do all the walking necessary to get to them!
Know what happens when you go to "authentic," "local" restaurants abroad? You end up paying 5 times as much for MUCH less food -- and, depending on where you are, you might get ripped off (because you are a tourist).
So, we eat McD's for our main meals and use the money saved for yummy desserts and drinking with the locals at night.
sofar at October 2, 2010 8:04 PM
Maybe it's old age, but I'd rather stay at home than face a week's worth of Mickey Dee.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at October 2, 2010 9:07 PM
I love 5 Guys burgers and fries. But kind of expensive for fast food -- around $10 instead of $5.
I have found McD's varies by country to some degree. I think New Zealand's are definitely a step or two above the US's, though they are not as cheap. Japan's are slightly better than the US and about the same price.
The Former Banker at October 2, 2010 11:09 PM
I love French Fries and Ketchup. Bad for you no matter what diet you're on. It's really the Ketchup I love. I love fries with my ketchup rather than ketchup with my fries.
My favorite fast food is the all you can eat Indian Buffets. They had some great ones in the Boston area, particularly Cambridge.
NicoleK at October 3, 2010 12:46 AM
"Whenever my sister and I travel to Europe, we eat almost exclusively McDonald's"
Shit! Can't imagine me eating McD's in my travels or here in Cali. One time (one time...)I had to eat a burger in Japan. Dont get me wrong I love burger but eating outside of the u.s.a is such a pleasure for me.
I know Amy is not a fan of Tofu, but I love eating it the traditional Korean way, with lots of meat.
Anyways I'm torn on this. I do love fast cheap and readily available food but it's produced lots of Americans with some of the worst taste buds I've ever seen.
Ppen at October 3, 2010 3:28 AM
I also must mention that the hot dog stands in Chicago make their fries in duck fat. Delicious!!!!
Mbruce at October 3, 2010 6:21 AM
Ppen, I have to agree. I know so many adults who've never even tried a steamed veggie or varied much from the corn dogs and mac n cheese. While I love the convenience of a Banquet frozen family meal or throwing a few tenderloins in the fryer, I have to have my fresh veggies and greens a couple times a week. Not to mention the salt content of some of that stuff is really bad for my pregnancy swelling. I agree with Amy, though. How many settlers could ever have imagined they could have a turkey dinner in front of them in minutes, no killing the turkey involved?
Jessica at October 3, 2010 6:56 AM
I put cooking on par with crafting. Yeah, I can buy a cooked chicken or a sweater, but it's so much more rewarding to make both myself. I like that I have the luxury to buy or cook.
It's also both an ego boost and a way of honoring my friends and other guests. People seem touched when I put effort into making things that I could have easily bought. When my husband and I cook for ourselves, we like the control we have over what we eat. The best stew I've ever had came as a result of my husband's intuitive knowledge of how ingredients work together, which comes only with practice and experimentation.
As for fast food, I never learn: It's always great until I remember how much it makes want to roll into a ball and die.
MonicaP at October 3, 2010 1:34 PM
I hate fast food for a lot of reasons, but one that seems relevant around here is that it is only cheap due to massive farm subsidies. We pay approx 20 billion annually to keep commodity corn cheap which keeps beef cheap. A hamburger is not a $4 meal.
Sam at October 3, 2010 2:01 PM
@ppen, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge foodie. But when traveling, I've got a budget ($20 or less for food per day). I live in Austin, where I can get Pho, fresh Ramen, farm-fresh gourmet and all kinds of deliciousness on the cheap. In many large European cities, that is NOT the case, and I'd rather be able to afford a train to the next stop on our trip than eat something mediocre AND expensive.
sofar at October 3, 2010 2:47 PM
I am firmly of the opinion that preparing food for another person is one of the most sincere expressions of love you can make. I guess when I cook for myself, it's kind of like jerking off.
Steve Daniels at October 3, 2010 4:43 PM
Hold the mayo on mine Steve...
Eric at October 3, 2010 5:26 PM
I think I may have eaten one fast food meal in Japan, because the kids wanted to. There I was, in Hiroshima, home of the best okonomiyaki in the world, eating a hamburger.
I still cringe when I think about it.
MarkD at October 4, 2010 8:45 AM
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