Balance of Food

Beef tallow vs. avocado oil for French fries: a contrast of frying approaches

Tallow Fries now in Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma

By March 1 ALL locations. Fries will be RFK’d! pic.twitter.com/m3pVaulppW

— Steak 'n Shake (@SteaknShake) February 25, 2025

We are not on the horns of a dilemma in that the choice in front of us is not a situation in which one has to choose between things that are unpleasant or undesirable. On the surface, French fries cooked in beef tallow is pleasant or desirable.

Steak 'n Shake fries played into the new reign of the very dangerous Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This is where the dilemma resides.

The fast food chain announced switches from vegetable oil to beef tallow on the concept that beef tallow is better for you than vegetable oil. The influence of a very dangerous person.

Sweetgreen is offering a contrast: Ripple Fries air-fried in avocado oil and seasoned with a blend of salt and herbs.

My local Steak 'n Shake in my area had no signage about the beef tallow in the French fries. Then again, I am not in RFK Jr. territory.

I can contrast the current product with the previous version cooked in vegetable oil. The regular French fries are really good. Yes, the beef tallow did improve the taste. The quality of the beef tallow could be better but yes, there is a taste difference and a positive one.

We chased after McDonald's for years to convert to a fat free of trans fat. Reportedly, McDonald's used beef tallow at one point, which upset Hindus and vegans, among many groups. That fast food chain finally did come up with a fat that was trans fat free but the taste suffered as a result.

Your humble narrator adores Steak 'n Shake French fries even in vegetable oil as a contrast to the tasteless McDonald's fries. Always try a few fries without ketchup to see if the actual fries are tasty. Both versions of Steak 'n Shake blow away what comes out of McDonald's.

The beef tallow McDonald's fries would be a serious contender. The criticism of McDonald's was that they used it while hiding that information from vegans and Hindus, among others. Steak 'n Shake customers are entitled to that same transparency. Our dismal experience with a hipster place in San Francisco advertising "duck fat fries" that were not cooked in duck fat reminds us that transparency and ethics are important.

Cutting way back on major label fast food

Steak 'n Shake switching to trans fat free oils

Hipster vs. Classic: sincerity in ingredients

BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

Steak 'n Shake is advertising the 100% beef tallow with the slogan: "America deserves the best." America clearly doesn't get the best, especially in fast food. The quality of beef tallow is likely a concern. You can buy better beef tallow and cook French fries in that at home and get a better product.

America's love of fast food, and not high-quality fast food, means the country gets what it deserves: not that much.

We know little of the history of Steak 'n Shake in terms of trans fat free oil options. We covered this story in 2007 and even then, details were vague.

I don't eat too many French fries these days so if I am torn, fries cooked even in cheap beef tallow could break a tie.

I live a lot closer to a Sweetgreen. Despite my love for healthy food, I rarely go to Sweetgreen. Too expensive and sometimes too healthy.

Their brand new Ripple Fries, air-fried in avocado oil and seasoned with a blend of salt and herbs, was opportune to measure its healthier approach. The advantages: Being air fried with very little oil and using avocado oil instead of a seed oil. Then again, less oil is used in air frying.

The location had plenty of obvious presence of the new Ripple Fries. The price point was $4.85 vs. $3.89 at Steak 'n Shake. I was worried that the portion would be too small but the portion size was decent.

ripple fries have entered the chat 🍟

let us introduce you to the good fry. made with five ingredients you can pronounce and air-fried in avocado oil.

pair it with pickle ketchup or garlic aioli. choose wisely. pic.twitter.com/Nl00l4z3vN

— sweetgreen (@sweetgreen) March 4, 2025

We used a local, sugar-based ketchup for the Steak 'n Shake fries while relying on Sweetgreen's choice of garlic aioli or pickle ketchup. The garlic aioli had more flavor than I thought it would. The pickle ketchup was okay, not tasting anything like pickles or ketchup.

The Sweetgreen fries are about what you would expect from an air fryer. Not really crispy but if you lower your standards, they would be fine. You think of that more as real potatoes instead of traditional French fries. A cross of chips, wedges, and fries.

They were better seasoned and felt more nutritious than the Steak 'n Shake. They can't live up to the Steak 'n Shake in consistency and taste yet a quality product on its own, especially with the garlic aioli.

One critique: I had to wait for the Steak 'n Shake fries but they came out hot. I got the Sweetgreen fries right away and they definitely weren't hot. Speed is fine but I can wait for hot fries — every single time.

Preserving the integrity of Belgian frites

Wendy's new natural fries delivers by major chain fast food standards

I don't have issues with vegetable oil, beef tallow, seed oils, and avocado oils. I can even deal with air fried as long as you don't accept that as actual fried. If I had a coupon for each one, I would get both of them. They each have good points and, with a hot fresh version of the Sweetgreen fries, would be a good snack choice.

I say this as a former French fry aficionado: enjoy fries. Eat quality fare. Not too much. Like Michael Pollan has said, cook them at home. Get quality beef tallow or duck fat. Air fry them with a bit of avocado oil. Just get them to be a bit more crisp.

Temptation of the Week: Size of the French fries

What's Tempting: 6 French fries

Temptation of the Week: French fries naked

Twitter captures: @SteaknShake; @sweetgreen
photos credit: me

The milk(person) would be ideal to get home delivery of high-quality dairy

Living in a colder climate, ideally you would go to the grocery store less often when the weather is frightful. I can handle shopping for almost any food I consume — except for milk.

Short of going back a few generations and drinking powdered milk, you have to go to the store for milk. I loathe the store where I buy my milk most often because of their asinine approaches to milk in the last few years.

They had the $2.49 (per gallon) pandemic priced milk. Not great tasting milk but tasty enough to drink. The high-end organic milk was an option but without significant financial help during the pandemic, that was too much of a luxury. There is a correlation between great tasting milk and cost.

My local store got rid of the low cost milk and raised the price of the low mark milk, which was not drinkable IMHO. So I switched to the organic milk. $6.99 per gallon but you could buy 2 gallons of milk for $12. This is great if you have a spouse and kids and more difficult for a single person.

The store recently got rid of the high-end organic milk so I was stuck buying the medium quality milk, a different milk at $4.49-$4.99/gallon.

I've only seen the milkman in old TV shows and as a punchline to a potential amour for lonely housewives of bygone eras. Imagine getting your milk delivered in glass bottles delivered right to your door and not in an Instacart-type transaction where they can't find half of what you want from the store.

People back then got top quality milk and cream products, full-fat buttermilk. Chocolate milk that was full fat and sweetened with sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup: milk you would feel proud to have your children drink.

You can make full-fat buttermilk substitute with lemon juice of vinegar with whole milk, but getting full-fat buttermilk requires a person with a truck making deliveries.

Carrying home a gallon of milk from the store is pretty easy for those with cars. Carrying a gallon of milk, even 2 gallons, is harder, especially as you get older. Even dragging a gallon of milk on a bus is more cumbersome. Going out to the store, mostly for milk, with icy conditions is a risk you may not want to take.

You wake up and find glass bottles of dairy products that taste good and you only have to lift them from your back stoop to your refrigerator. The creamy bit at the top of the bottle of milk; can't get that with modern milk in the plastic jug.

Milk people worked as a concept where people had houses with back stoops, where people felt safer than perhaps now. Glass bottles is nostalgic along the lines of drinking Mexican Coca-Cola in glass bottles. The idea of reusing glass bottles instead of throwing out the plastic jugs of the modern era sounds wonderful for the environment. Those plastic jugs also pile up in your kitchen if the weather is too frightful.

Nostalgia can be cute up to a point. The idea isn't practical in the modern times, however tempting the practice is. I would be willing to get high-quality dairy products delivered, even if not in glass bottles.

The current solution is a different grocery store along a bus line with a high-end milk that is mostly good and expensive. Food prices likely won't come down with the new administration, at least in the United States. Or I could stop drinking milk. This is a good source of protein and I am not doing well in getting protein otherwise.

photo credit: this Reddit page

Food as art has a very small audience

Your humble narrator isn't the biggest fan of ultra fancy dining. A fancy meal every so often allows you to grow as a dining human being. Fancy is fine but ultra fancy is more theatre and art than food, especially at those prices.

My friend IRL Monica Eng covers the food industry for a long time in different formats. Eng recently wrote about Charlie Trotter tribute dinners run by Grant Achatz. 

In Chicago high dining circles. Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz were and are well-known names. If you want to be seen as being cool, then you would dive into this opportunity. "Hey, look. I got into this exclusive experience. You didn't. I am better than you." 

Eng points out the cost for the tribute dinners (Trotter died in 2013) is $175-$235 per person. This does not count tax, tip, and drinks. From the article: "Wine pairings, starting with Champagne and ending with port, range from $135 to $345 for ultra reserve vintages. Non-alcoholic pairings cost $75." I suppose a Mexican Coca-Cola is out of the question.

Trotter and Achatz's restaurants (Achatz worked at Charlie Trotter's restaurant) are about pageantry and being seen more than the food itself. You pay through the nose for that luxury.

You get some fancy food, not much on any one plate:

"The meal starts with a ring of Osetra caviar, sea urchin, vodka créme fraiche and daikon that sings of the sea with a whisper of fruity sweetness. Other standout courses include:

• Summer-kissed heirloom tomato soup with crunchy dried tomato bits and an avocado coriander sorbet.
• A slice of rare venison over shredded oxtail infused with cherry juice and surrounded by a rich mole and cashew vinaigrette.
• Buttery Peruvian sea bass over chanterelles and a veal reduction.
• Puddingy banana bread, laced with warm chocolate ganache and topped with a coconut cookie, ripe bananas and malt ice cream that I still can't stop thinking about."

The article shows some pictures. Eng said in the article, "No, you will not still be hungry after this meal. If I was full, anyone would be full." She is likely correct, simply because there are a number of courses. The goal shouldn't be all you can eat at a family style restaurant. When you paying a lot for fancy food, the portions will be tiny. That is a key part of the panache.

One of the lures of the tribute dinners is to meet like-minded people who did Trotter's when that restaurant was still active. Perhaps you can't — or won't — put a price on that kind of experience.

The lure of eating at a restaurant with a celebrity chef

Don't fall for a restaurant that says it is 'approachable'

That isn't what food should really be. Art and performance can be in that realm. Food should be reasonably approachable. You can go to museums and see some of the greatest art in the world. Of course, museums are financially subsidized.

The costs are ridiculous yet the money is only part of the issue. You can go to Chez Panisse in Berkeley (lunch in the photo at the top of this column) and pay a lot for a very good meal. Lunches upstairs are cheaper than dinner downstairs. You could go to Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street in San Francisco, pay a lot of money (cash only) for some amazing seafood. The ambiance is way more casual so bragging rights aren't a big deal.

You could find a quality place and spend $100-$125 (per person) for a very nice meal with wine. A nice quiet meal with no publicity.

Theoretically, one could participate new in this process, dish out the money. If they even think in their head that they didn't get value for the money, one can't say it was so-so. You have to praise what you consumed, regardless of the reality. That doesn't sound encouraging.

What's Tempting: Recreating spirit of Chez Panisse

What's Tempting: Chez Panisse for lunch

The design of the Charlie Trotter original and tribute experiences is to be exclusive, not inclusive, even more than just fancy dining. They are considered great chefs not because of the way they cook or how the dishes turn out but by charging large sums of money for that exclusive experience.

If I am ever in Cetara, Italy on the Amalfi Coast south of Naples, I am headed for Al Convento, Pasquale Torrente’s place featured with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations. I wouldn't care how much the bill would be. All of the dishes Bourdain ordered looked so good. Cetara is known for local anchovies.

A memorable meal with a beautiful ocean view. I would take pictures and show them on social media. No one around me would be bragging that they were there because of the company, just the food. I want to dine out for the food and not some fancy exclusivity.

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

"A two-hour meal of eight set courses introduced by servers explaining how the elements reflect Trotter's passion for jazz, Japanese cooking, game meat, seasonal produce and even Nancy Silverton's panna cotta."

Ultra fancy dining requires a level of trust of epic proportions. If you had a boatload of money AND a lot of trust in Charlie Trotter, you would likely salivate at the above description. You have to trust Achatz and the others who put together the tribute dinners maybe even more than Trotter.

I do struggle with trust, especially in food relationships. I trust Alice Waters now but there was a time when I didn't have that trust.

This is the difference between fancy dining and ultra fancy dining. I can trust fancy dining for an occasional treat. I struggle to trust ultra fancy dining, even if I had the money to justify an evening's meal. 

photo credits: me; No Reservations

Pizza Hut draws attention to tavern style pizza but the style is not special

If you hear the words Chicago and pizza, you might think of deep dish, a food that Jon Stewart described as "not pizza." Chicago has a style of pizza outside the tourist traps: tavern style pizza.

The Great Lakes region of the United States already has Detroit style pizza. Detroit style pizza is distinct from the auto parts container used to bake the pizzas to the unique cheese structure and the order for the ingredients.

Tavern style pizza is, well, pizza. The main distinction to tavern style pizza is, well, how the pizza is cut. The pieces are much smaller so you can put them on a bar napkin instead of using plates.

Somehow, Pizza Hut decided to copy the tavern-style pizza from Chicago. Why?

Tavern style pizza, unlike deep dish, is actual pizza. There are subtle nuances. The thin crust is truly thin and yeast is reportedly used. Most of what makes tavern style is how the pizza is cut.

Monica Eng, whom I know in real life, compares and contrasts the Pizza Hut version with a local version. I trust her take on the pizzas.

Your humble narrator hasn't tried either one but has had multiple tavern style pizzas over the years. Regular readers know your humble narrator has an intolerance to mozzarella cheese and might wonder how I could have had those pizzas over the last few decades. I had to figure this intolerance after not making the connection. So I have had tavern style pizza and it's just pizza cut in funny shapes.

Temptation of the Week: Out-of-town pizza through the eyes of Jon Stewart

Canadian film review: The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of (CanadianCrossing.com)

A lot of Detroit people ignore Windsor and Canada. Windsor has its own style of pizza that is very different from Detroit style pizza. A river and international border runs through the 2 pizzas.

I was skeptical about how distinct Windsor pizza would be from regular pizza. My Windsor friends swore this was different. The differences are there. The documentary we reviewed goes into those details.

• flour crust with cornmeal on the bottom
• sweet sauce using sweeter tomatoes such as San Marzano or tomatoes from California
• Galati cheese company making high fat mozzarella that is stringy when you pull out a slice
• shredded pepperoni
• canned mushrooms

The list shows a way more distinct pizza than tavern style pizza in Chicago. A thin crust and smaller pieces versus these significant differences. The Windsor style pizza is a lot more distinct than tavern style pizza. Of course, Pizza Hut, Canada or United States, will not cross the border to copy Windsor style pizza.

New Haven, CT style pizza is more distinct than Chicago tavern style pizza.

The point of Pizza Hut's newest pizza isn't to be innovative or imaginary. You likely haven't heard of tavern style pizza even if you have visited Chicago. Pizza nerds know yet not regular people.

You won't compare the differences. You know the national chain wouldn't come close to duplicating a local version of any food. Imagine a national chain trying to duplicate Cincinnati style chili or a Detroit coney dog.

Perhaps the Pizza Hut people got inspired by the obsession over The Bear TV show set in Chicago.

Everyone: Make us a true Chicago pizza
Us: YES, CHEF pic.twitter.com/nisTe2LW5G

— Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) June 27, 2024

The Bear mocks the basic sandwich establishment for another unneeded high-end restaurant

Cheap pizza comes to Canada but at what cost

What's Tempting: Getting the larger pizza

As we noted in a long ago time, travel to places to have the unique foods of a region. Detroit has its style pizza that is worth exploring as does Windsor, across the Detroit River in Canada. If that isn't practical, Cook's Country has a version you can try at home.

Come to Chicago for the hot dog, Italian beef sandwiches (trashed in The Bear), and perhaps the pizza and "not pizza." Don't come to Chicago just for tavern style pizza. If you come for other reasons, find out for yourself if tavern style pizza is distinct.

photo credit: Pizza Hut
video credit: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart/Comedy Central
Twitter capture: Pizza Hut

Bourdain Day 2024: Dealing with reduced enthusiasm

For those of us who wished (wish?) to have the kind of life Anthony Bourdain enjoyed in the second half of his existence, reduced enthusiasm feels very unlikely. Travel more than 200 days each year, eat and drink well, and having amazing adventures.

If you are around the age, okay a bit younger than Bourdain was at the end of his life, your enthusiasm is not at the level where it used to be. Less energy, less focus. Generating that level of enthusiasm leads to thoughts of nostalgia to times when you had the adventures that shaped your youth.

Parts Unknown was less physical, less snarky, and less adventurous than No Reservations. The Anthony Bourdain speed wasn't in 5th gear, maybe more like 3rd gear.

Bourdain, who didn't have much good to say about Scandinavia, did a trip to Copenhagen for Parts Unknown. That episode was mostly about going to Noma.

Reduced enthusiasm is a reality for people of a certain age. The question is how to overcome that concern.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

Your humble narrator is more a fan of No Reservations than Parts Unknown. Yet the reduced enthusiasm with a lot less sarcasm that Bourdain had on the latter series: well, we can learn from that as well.

Bourdain still ate well, having more intense and deeper conversations in Parts Unknown. He kicked up the maturity from his initial A Cook's Tour when he was in his 40s into No Reservations.

We can think that we know a lot about food at a somewhat advanced age. Then again in the last few years, your humble narrator fixed butter chicken with a jarred sauce, invented bagna cauda spaghetti, and cooked bone marrow at home.

The incentive to experiment is enhanced if you have an audience to cook for in your domicile. This does not include a cat or dog who just want a sample of your food, and quite frankly, won't offer significant feedback (unless they won't eat it). Cooking for one with reduced enthusiasm can lead to … bowls of cereal for dinner.

“I know that I will never understand the world I live in or fully know the places I've been. I've learned for sure only what I don't know — and how much I have to learn.”
–Anthony Bourdain#AnthonyBourdain #MondayMotivation #travel pic.twitter.com/nTsbessFfx

— Friends of Anthony Bourdain (@bourdainpodcast) June 10, 2024

Honoring Anthony Bourdain is making a better than average meal when your body or mind doesn't want to do a whole lot. Honoring yourself in a way. After all, the best meals Bourdain had on television were always in someone's home.

Breaking down barriers so people will try new foods

Coping with reduced enthusiasm for food

Anthony Bourdain offered good advice on what not to do with food and travel, such as his advice to stay away from the breakfast buffet at hotels. Sometimes, knowing what you shouldn't do is almost as needed as what you should do.

Shopping at local markets, a mainstay of Bourdain adventures, is a great way to jumpstart new foods and, with a lot of foods at the markets, little to no cooking required.

Bourdain Day 2023: Celebrating a loss with food

Bourdain Day 2022: Coming out of a worldwide pandemic

If reduced enthusiasm is a concern, you don't need to have 3 exciting meals every day. Think about a Saturday night dinner where you have time to put some effort into a meal. I did this on Saturday nights during the pandemic with the bagna cauda spaghetti. Listening to a jazz show out of Canada gave me a cooking soundtrack.

Take pictures of the process and meal, even if you don't post them on social media. You might be the only one who sees the meal. You can feel better looking at the pictures, knowing you are capable of making a special meal.

You can also challenge yourself to make a meal better than a local restaurant for a lot less money.

Bourdain Day 3: How Anthony Bourdain helped me get through a pandemic

On the second Bourdain Day, how Anthony Bourdain would handle a worldwide pandemic

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

Anthony Bourdain would have been 68 today.

photo credit: Instagram Anthony Bourdain
Twitter capture: @bourdainpodcast

Double Big Mac is a novelty that suits the U.S. fast food appetite

Canadians have had easy access to the Double Big Mac at McDonald's Canada for years. Not a random, limited time opportunity. Day in and day out on the menu.

Americans have had this since January, according to reports.

To educate Americans on the Double Big Mac, only the meat gets doubled. The lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion, and special sauce are at the same level as on a regular Big Mac.

We haven't had a Big Mac for a long time. The few McDonald's burgers we've eaten have been virtually free of liquid condiments (ketchup, mustard) not by my doing. An odd trend that when mustard is included, you can see a small yellow streak that doesn't register on your tongue as being a significant amount of mustard. Lately, ketchup is also disappearing.

You would need a lot of special sauce to overcome the dry hamburgers.

If you do a McDonald's hamburger of any kind, make sure you are getting liquid condiments. The pickles show up regardless. We order without onions but they show up sometimes even when you don't order them.

McDonald's had bad timing when introducing the Double Big Mac in the United States in March 2020. Oops.

The texture of 2 patties is why I never ordered a double cheeseburger from McDonald's or any other fast food place. Give me a thicker burger with one patty. Thicker also means you can get a burger to temperature (not at conventional fast food places).

Your humble narrator is in the minority. The idea of double thin patties and/or smashburgers is huge in the United States. So why shouldn't McDonald's compete with that. 4 is more than 2.

Cutting way back on major label fast food

McDonald's aim for adult nostalgia in Happy Meals falls short

McDonald's Quarter Pounder hot and juicy claims are laughable

As U.S. fast food prices increase like wildfire, the idea of a Double Big Mac means "more food" even at higher prices. A Big Mac doesn't seem as impressive compared to a Double Big Mac.

BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

BalanceofFood.com temptations coverage

I certainly had a chance to have the Double Big Mac long before most Americans would have. The 22-year-old version of myself might have been excited about a Double Big Mac. Then again, I was one of the few McDonald's consumers who enjoyed the McLean Deluxe. You got ketchup, mustard, a whole lettuce leaf, pickles, a sliced tomato, and a reduced fat patty. I didn't even mind the seaweed extract aka carrageenan.

I'm excited for Americans to finally get the Double Big Mac, even if I am not likely to participate in either the United States or Canada.

photo credit: KTTV/Los Angeles via McDonald's

Breaking down barriers so people will try new foods

"People with special conditions should always consult with their doctors before consuming new products."

I could have used this disclaimer when I was 10. My father started verbally berating me over trying new foods. While he had 2 children, he only picked on me. "Wonderful or awful" were essentially my choices. Wonderful wasn't viable since no one could live up to wonderful.

This was a rather unusual product, a drink that I was gifted. I love intense flavors in food and drink and even this drink was too intense for me. The second ingredient (behind water) was yuzu juice.

I did read the disclaimer and still tried the beverage, even while not consulting a single doctor or even a medical professional.

I didn't end up drinking too much from the beverage. I'm sure it's a great product, regardless of health conditions.

The use of the word "products" instead of "foods" was definitely a deliberate choice. I would love to find out what the "special conditions" would need to be. Chances are, given my physical health, good that I have "special conditions." People with "special conditions" likely have multiple doctors.

We think — not that we have medical expertise — people should try new foods without a doctor's permission. What if you never had sea urchin or pickled herring? Are they considered "products" or just foods? Does Flamin' Hot Cheetos qualify as a product you shouldn't try without a consultation with doctors?

Some of the foods where my father would berate me involved canned vegetables that weren't rinsed. I was too sensitive to the salt content, not that people thought about such things back in those days. I didn't like tuna fish too much as a kid. I found that the taste significantly improved when I rinsed the tuna fish out of the can.

After all, the verbal abuse wasn't about being right or health-conscious.

The idea of a doctor's note wouldn't have gone too far as a 10-year-old child, though stalling appealed to me greatly at that age.

BalanceofFood.com advice coverage

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

Despite my alleged peculiarities as a child, I am a great advocate for trying new foods (products?) in my travels. Eat local what is local to where you travel. That could be tripe in central Italy, the aforementioned herring in Scandinavia, fish tacos in southern California, and poutine in Quebec in Canada.

Americans in particular (stereotype) struggle with being adventurous in trying new foods. We shouldn't create extra barriers to finding out what we like in food, whether that be overbearing parents or cultural prejudices against certain foods. This doesn't mean we have to like every food. Some foods are "meh," not wonderful or awful. This is a perfectly fine reaction to a food.

"Yes. FDA advises consumers to talk to their doctor, pharmacist, or other health care professional before deciding to purchase or use a dietary supplement. For example, some supplements might interact with medicines or other supplements."

We are not advising to necessarily go against the wishes of the Food and Drug Administration, as an example. We do note that disclaimers are set up to protect others from the implications of your actions. Be smarter in that regard.

Trying new foods is exciting, even if they don't succeed, like this juice for your humble narrator. Failure only comes if you don't try something because you are afraid. Travel well and eat well in those travels.

photos credit: me

Hipster vs. Classic: sincerity in ingredients

This will not be a fair fight. Hipster is about listing ingredients on a menu and tricking people into buying their food. We ran into an ideal hipster sample in our recent trip to San Francisco. We also encountered a dish with a few ingredients with true sincerity.

Let's start with the hipster sample: Duck fat fries. Regular places that serve duck fat fries, especially Hot Doug's RIP, have French fries cooked in duck fat. That makes them duck fat fries.

Horsefeather in San Francisco serves what they call "duck fat fries." The fries contain umami seasoning, duck fat "snow," and curried ketchup. The umami seasoning is real, not that exciting but verifiable. The duck fat "snow" looked pretty but didn't have any taste. The curried ketchup was curried in that there was a slight curry taste but not enough to bring any significant flavor, like curry for people who can't handle actual curry taste. Curried implies not full curry.

The problem with these fries is that they weren't cooked in duck fat. The trick is that the snow, which was tasteless, qualified them as "duck fat." Duck fat should have been in quotes in the description. The law may not be able to touch them but they are deliberately deceptive.

The fries were $8 and there wasn't a lot of ketchup. (If there is a lawsuit, I will contend the fries did not taste like they were cooked in duck fat. I will win.)

The porchetta sandwich at Roli Roti is a classic. Very few ingredients yet thoughtful and ones that marry well together. The slow-cooked pork with the cracklings, a beautiful onion jam, arugula, and rosemary sea salt.

Every ingredient is sincere: the onion jam would be great by itself. The ingredients make this $13 sandwich more than the individual ingredients by themselves. If you think you dislike arugula, you will enjoy it on this sandwich.

I got to enjoy this twice on the trip, the second with a Mexican Coca-Cola. Talk about the perfect complimentary choice (purchased separately inside the Ferry Building).

Unlike the fries, I ate the whole porchetta sandwich. In fact, the sandwich was so good that I ate it slowly to appreciate what my taste buds were experiencing. The "duck fat fries" were so dry that you had to eat them with the curried ketchup. A good fry, especially ones actually cooked in duck fat, should be able to stand up on its own.

BalanceofFood.com temptations coverage

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

I fell for the hipster place because I was running around that afternoon and felt like having a treat of duck fat fries. If I knew for a second that the deception would run that deep, I never would have gone in there, not even for a story. I could have argued about the deception, but the hipster logic is that they were "upfront" and you should have known better.

We likely have been tricked more than once by the hipster food approach. We are still good people even if we are labeled as "suckers." Just eat more classic food than hipster food in your travels.

photo credits: Horsefeather; me (x2)

Don't let financial concerns ruin your eating options on vacation

Will not judge too harshly. You are in one of the best eating cities in North America. Wilensky's is not expensive. Romados for Portuguese chicken on Rue Rachel East. Poutine, smoked meat, bagels. #Montreal https://t.co/iI5f0xSgFV

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) February 3, 2024

I do not want to be harsh in my take on this situation. This is a nice person on social media, thoughtful. Sharing a moment of weakness that he easily could have not posted. Do not retaliate in any form or fashion.

This person had this issue in Montréal, an amazing eating city. Your humble narrator recently had similar concerns on a trip to San Francisco.

Vacation budgets were tough, even before the inflation that is Ukraine and pandemic and greed rolled into one. Eating out in your own city. Eating out elsewhere.

"The restaurants I wanted to go to were way too expensive." I know that pain. If you have traveled lately, we know that pain. Even my old favorites, such as Swan Oyster Depot. New favorites such as House of Prime Rib, R&G Lounge, and Italian Homemade. The money was staggering.

The joy of traveling is eating at places where you normally wouldn't find at home. I've been to Swan Oyster Depot and the food is wonderful, whatever the price. The memories of eating at these and more places are the value of travel. I've eaten at wonderful places in Montréal, including a place that recently closed.

I also need to go back to Montréal, where I will pay more $ for places such as Au Pied de Cochon and Joe Beef, restaurants likely on his list.

Americans eating in Montréal and elsewhere in Canada do have a key advantage: currency exchange rates. The Canadian dollar is traditionally weaker against the U.S. dollar, even more for British pounds and better for those with Euros. The exchange rate was 1 U.S. dollar = 1.35 Canadian dollars at Feb 4, 7:37 PM UTC.

As we noted, Montréal offers relatively inexpensive culinary options, such as bagels, smoked meat sandwiches, and poutine. A lot cheaper than seafood in San Francisco.

I skipped places I had been, such as Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where I had been before, based on price.

I spent more than I wanted to on dinners in San Francisco. The same will be true in Montréal, hopefully this summer. How can I or anyone else justify this cost?

— Spend less at home. I live in a major city and rarely eat out. Cooking isn't as much fun since grocery store prices are climbing. Still cheaper than eating out. I sadly eat 2 meals a day, most days, so I inadvertently save money that way.

— Spend the money on dinner and not the other meals. Maybe doing McDonald's for lunch allows you more money for dinner. Breakfast is the most important meal and the easiest to find relatively cheap. Even a pain du chocolate isn't that much.

— Picnics. Picnics are a cheaper way to consume great local food. One of the best meals I had in Rome was a collection of food from Salumeria Volpetti in the Testaccio neighborhood. I took the food to the Borghese Gardens with a bottle of Italian Coca-Cola and ate like a royal. Picnics aren't going to work as well in the Montréal winter yet a great option in warmer weather.

— Smarter calories. The porchetta sandwich from Roli Roti was rather expensive. I got vegetables with the arugula. A hearty roll. Plenty of pork. The whole sandwich kept me full for a longer time. Spending a lot and being hungry 2-3 hours later means you will spend more money.

— Tell yourself you can't take it with you. Less money for retirement? A bit of an extreme thought process. I have enough anxiety and depression that I tell myself that to reduce anxiety in the moment. I did save up for this adventure in San Francisco and feel good about the money I spent and the money I didn't spend. I made decently smart choices on the trip and have the memories, regardless of the price.

Mourning the loss of your favorite restaurant

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

I was nervous that a lot of my favorite restaurants would disappear during the pandemic. Some did disappear, especially in the city where I live. Had a place within walking distance to get duck fat fries and they didn't come back.

I have great memories of the food I've had in San Francisco on this trip and previous encounters. Same for my time in Montréal. When we are on our deathbed, we won't remember the McDonald's trip in a moment of weakness. I will remember eating the chocolate gelato with whipped cream at Bar San Calisto in Rome while listening to this Swedish woman tell me about this cat food called Pussi. I will remember biting into the first bite of that porchetta sandwich at the Ferry Building farmers market in San Francisco. That is what will count in life.

The McDonald's misstep when traveling is more common than you might expect. Just don't let it define you as a food traveler.

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
photo credit: me

Cutting way back on major label fast food

Hard habits to break. Fast food might be one of the toughest if you live in the United States or Canada. Those who drive might find giving up to be virtually impossible. I accumulated a lot of fast food, often without a car.

The COVID-19 pandemic made that a lot easier, as we have written about. Many people, because they are human, have resumed their previous behaviors. No judgments. Just a reality.

Your humble narrator is not a genius or specially gifted. Yet to the best of my knowledge, I am coming up on an unusual anniversary. The last memory of being at a major fast food place was in November 2019. This would be the 4-year anniversary of not going to a major fast food place.

Let's offer a few caveats. I remember that visit to a McDonald's in November 2019. I might have visited a McDonald's or a Burger King between November 2019 and March 2020. I can't swear I made a visit but don't recall a single visit in that time. I can promise I haven't made a trip since March 2020.

We define major fast food places = McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. I have made a few Arby's visits, some Little Caesar's stops for Crazy Bread, and one not-so-great Long John Silver's visit. A lot fewer fast food trips than in the before time (before March 2020).

Before you ask where is the book I've written on how I made this happen (there is no book), I do have some theories as to why this has happened.

Anxiety and depression: Reduced interest in things I previously enjoyed. Some good things have disappeared along with the desire for a lot of fast food. You take the good and the bad.

Reduced enthusiasm for French fries: I thought my strong love for French fries would return when things went back to relatively normal. They don't taste as good, even when I have had them. French fries isn't a strength for the major 3 hamburger places. McDonald's used to be good in the beef tallow and trans fat days. They need ketchup, hopefully one without high-fructose corn syrup.

Less running around: The fast food siren gets silenced when I don't run around as much. The temptation gets stronger when I am running around doing activities. "You need a snack. It's not that much. You used to love me."

I didn't eat fast food because the food was good tasting. I ate fast food out of convenience. Make a snack and take it with you. Easier said than done but that could get you out of a pickle or jam with fast food.

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You may still have a long relationship with fast food. You had a car so when people couldn't get fast food without a car, you had a car.

The funny thing is when you don't have that relationship with fast food: you remember the sad moments in that relationship. Eating a McDonald's hamburger that tasted more like a pork sandwich out of a microwave oven than beef from a griddle. Stopping in the middle of a Burger King Whopper and finding the burger so dry that you didn't want to finish the burger.

Those are real memories from 2019. I hope I have enough self-respect that I deserve better. My lone Long John Silver's pandemic trip had very little satisfaction. I have fought with my local Little Caesar's that often serve me Crazy Bread without the cheese sprinkled on like the product.

Fast-food chains are feeling the heat from false advertising lawsuits claiming their food doesn't match ads or photos on the menu board. https://t.co/HvHJUDhaOP

— Axios (@axios) September 2, 2023

I have childhood memories of dark brown chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken. The only way you can get that dark brown color is in the KFC advertising. The wonder over getting a breath of mustard in lieu of a decent serving of mustard on a McDonald's hamburger on a consistent basis.

Those who are fighting fast food companies over how much better their food works in commercials versus reality: we love and support you. The uphill battle is taller than Mount Everest and might be about as dangerous to climb. We wish you much luck.

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BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

Eventually Cal Ripken Jr. sat out a game. Long streaks come to an end, for those who don't get the baseball reference. There will be a moment when major fast food will pass through my lips and sadly into my stomach.

I will enjoy what I have until that streak ends. When the streak does end, I won't go back to a regular habit of fast food. Hopefully.

If I had the power, I would negotiate a deal: I'll eat major fast food when I can get a product that looks as good as the ones in the ads.

photo credit: McDonald's
Twitter capture: @axios