In assessing the true Balance of Food, you have to travel to the extremes. The latest excuse in extremes is the U.S. launch of the Double Down from KFC.
As you may have heard, KFC is introducing a chicken sandwich without the bread. The concept of this would have been lovely during the Atkins craze.
To recap, the "sandwich" is two chicken fillets as the "bread" with two pieces of bacon, melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper Jack cheese and the Colonel's sauce. At least this is what we were supposed to get.
Then again, KFC has been legendary in my mind for showing us one thing and producing another, especially when it comes to its chicken products. Despite Eric Cartman's love for the food, KFC just isn't what it used to be.
The reality is underwhelming: the chicken is never as dark and juicy as in the ad. There was 1/2 a piece of bacon on the "sandwich." The one promise of joy of flavor, the cheese, was severely off. The spice from the pepper jack cheese was virtually non-existent and the Monterey Jack had no flavor. And the Colonel's sauce, which the Colonel never would have endorsed, added calories but very little else.
This is what the sandwich is "supposed" to look like. A lot better than the end result.
There are those who complain about the fat and salt in the dish, and they are admittedly correct. But a lot of sandwiches have a lot of fat and salt.
There are sandwiches that clearly aren't good for you that bring flavor. You weigh the beautiful flavor versus the calories involved. The Double Down sandwich doesn't give you enough to justify the calories.
The Original Recipe chicken fillets (you can get the grilled fillets) aren't that tasty or juicy or exciting. The cheese and sauce add calories but not flavor. And the bacon was fine, but there wasn't enough of it.
You could take 2 well-grown chicken cutlets, lightly bread them, and pan-fry them. Then you could serve them with crisp well-grown bacon, cheese with actual taste and bite, and maybe some stone ground mustard. That would be yummy but not healthy.
And you could serve that with a couple of slices of hearty bread.
The other "sin" that KFC hangs on us with the Double Down is that "carbs are evil." No, carbohydrates aren't bad for you. Processed carbohydrates in high doses aren't a good choice, but we need good carbohydrates in our lives.
We need carbohydrates, protein, and yes fats for a truly balanced approach. Going without won't help in the long run.
Unless you are Double (ing) Down on flavor as well as calories, the sandwich or anything else isn't worth it.
photo credits: both taken by me
I really like your blog's style, and hungry to withstand what my friends say is the strict test!
Posted by: Jordan | July 05, 2010 at 09:52 PM