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My First Big Mac
 The Big
Mac was the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees,
who by the late 1960s operated a dozen stores in Pittsburgh. It became
available from all McDonalds restraunts in 1968.
Made with two 100% all beef patties, sesame seed bun, American cheese
slice, Big Mac sauce, lettuce, pickles, onions, salt, pepper. Of course,
we all know the song "two all beef patties, special saunce, lettuce,
cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." Yes, an American legacy.
I've never had one.
 On Monday,
August 12, 2002 I decided that must change. My lovely wife, Erin, was
kind enough to take some pictures of this historic event. In a way, I
was excited to loose my Big Mac virginity, but another part of me was
wary of some of the individual ingreedients I don't particularly like:
American cheese (and the word cheese is used loosely here) and the "special
sauce" (which is pretty much mayonaise). The reason I chose this
day was it was 99¢ Big Mac Monday - so if I didn't like it I only
wasted 99¢ ($1.06 with tax).
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My friendly server this trip was Ralph, a veteran server of over
5 years. When I told him I had never had a Big Mac he just laughed
- he couldn't believe it! But then he confessed he had never had
one either - even though he had worked at McDonalds for so long.
Upon opening the "made from 100% recycled materials"
packaging, I inspected the glory that is the Big Mac. For some reason,
it didn't look at all like the pictures. My Big Mac reminded me
Bea Arthur compared to Denise Richards. But nevertheless, I pressed
on.
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I had to psyche myself up but finally I was ready. Staring
at the face of the beast I gathered the courage, cleared my mind of
preconceptions and biases and slowly brought the sandwich to my mouth. |
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I took a big bite, ensuring that I had an adequate amount
of each ingrediant, and chewed slowly. I envisioned myself on the
set of Iron Chef, tasting one of of the exquisite dishes prepared
by Michiba Rokusaburo or Chin Kenichi. I could just see Chairman Kaga
Takeshi announcing the theme ingrediant: Kyoo no
tema wa kore desu - Biga Maca. |
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What a strange combination of flavors. The beef was
definetly there, with its salty seasoning, and the pickle was crispy
and savory. I couldn't taste the cheese, which was proabaly just as
well. The special sauce tasted like it was made of mayonaise, katsup
and onions or maybe rellish. It provided a lubricating effect so everything
slid around in my mouth. Very interesting. |
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After thinking about it for no very long at all, I decided
that I really don't like Big Macs. I think it is the special sauce
that makes it so yuckie. Perhaps it is the cheese. Perhaps it is a
combination of things. Either way, I won't be trying another one for
quite a while. |
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The Carsons