The Awl: The McRib as Arbitrage

bestrooftalkever:

willystaley:

I wrote about a conspiracy theory that surrounds the elusive McDonald’s sandwich for The Awl. No rap in this one, which is a big step for me!

This whole article is outstanding and this is the moment that sealed the deal for me:

There is no skilled labor involved anywhere along the McRib’s Dickensian journey from hog to tray, and certainly no regional variety, except for the binary sort—Yes, the McRib is available/No, it is not—that McDonald’s uses to promote the product. And while it hasn’t replaced barbecue, it does make a mockery of it.

The fake rib bones, those porky railroad ties that give the McRib its name, are a big middle finger to American labor and ingenuity—and worse, they’re the logical result of all that hard work. They don’t need a pitmaster to make the meat tender, and they don’t need bones for the meat to fall off—they can make their tender meat slurry into the bones they didn’t need in the first place.

Everyone  is (correctly) piling on the McRib, but I have to defend it. The texture of that schmeat is nearly IDENTICAL to that of a perfectly made ramen noodle. A tiny bit firm but not too firm, with a little bit of give to them, that kind of slithers down your throat. 

1. citrusskies reblogged this from willystaley
2. istealforksfromrestaurants reblogged this from bestrooftalkever and added:

   This is a great article.

3. This was featured in #Food
4. mbyhoff reblogged this from bestrooftalkever and added:

   Everyone is (correctly) piling on the McRib, but I have to defend it. The texture of that schmeat is nearly IDENTICAL to...

5. bestrooftalkever reblogged this from willystaley and added:

   This whole article is outstanding and...the moment that sealed the deal

6. stavrose reblogged this from willystaley
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