There's A Reason McDonald's Fries Tasted Better When You Were A Kid
For many years, most of us have already been in agreement that McDonald's has the best french fries in the fast food game. And even though those beautiful, golden fried potatoes are still just as addicting as they were when you they made up the most important part of your Happy Meals, you may or may not have noticed that they tasted completely different (read: better) just a few decades ago when you were a kid. And there's a reason for that.
According to Business Insider, author Malcolm Gladwell appeared on an episode of the Revisionist History podcast to discuss the first time he tasted a McDonald's french fry, while also pointing out that the reason the fries have changed in taste since the early 90s is just because of the oil the restaurant began cooking them in.
"They went from frying them in beef tallow to frying them in some combination of vegetable oil," he said. "And as you dig into this, what you realize is that that is not an inconsequential move. It's not like when you're frying an egg where it doesn't really matter what you fry it in. A fried egg is a fried egg. A french fry is a combination of a potato and some kind of cooking element. The thing you fry it in becomes a constituent part of the fry."
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Basically, the switch happened because McDonald's was attempting to be a little more health-conscious with its menu options thanks to all the panic surrounding saturated fats. But, in the end, it turned out that cooking the fries in vegetable oil didn't make them healthier at all.
"It turns out to be false that vegetable oil is healthier for you than beef tallow," Gladwell went on. "So not only did they destroy the french fry, they gave us something that was worse for us from a health perspective. So everything about it was a mistake."
In defense of McDonald's, though, the fries are still delicious, and they probably still would be no matter oil they were fried in. Still, all Gladwell really wants is for the fast food joint to change its current recipe back to the original. It's up to McDonald's if that actually happens though.
(h/t Business Insider)
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