International Intrigue | Goodies First

Apr 5

Chain Links: French Edition

French lunch times have shrunk from an hour-and-a-half to 22 minutes, so sandwiches are replacing bistro meals. Now there are lines out the door at Subway, and McDonald's has added waiter service at one Paris location to capitalize on the move toward more casual dining.

Despite France's large Muslim population, there has been little tradition of fusing French gastronomy with halal meat. Restaurant, Les Enfants Terribles, may be one of the first. French burger chain, Quick, started serving halal-only meat at eight of its 350 locations in 2010, and not everyone in the country was so happy about that.

Beurger King Muslim, a suburban Parisian halal fast food joint, tried to make a go of it in 2005 but I don't see any evidence that it is still in business.

Photo via Next Generation Food

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Apr 2

Localized: Dunkin’ Donuts Taiwan

Welcome to Localized, the first in a new series about localized menu offerings. You know, regional tweaks to American chain staples.

I'm starting with Dunkin' Donuts for no particular reason. It is an oddball in that it's such a popular franchise in NYC, but has completely disappeared from the Northwest where I grew up. And yet these American doughnuts have spread all over the world; 30 countries, to be precise. Taiwan has 26 branches.

Two differences in Taiwan are that supposedly the doughnuts aren't as sweet, and you get to pick them out yourself with a tray and tongs much like at Chinese bakeries here. So far, I see no evidence of the pork doughnuts promised for China last month.

Five things Dunkin' Donuts in Taiwan has that we don't:

Heart-shaped doughnuts year-round

Whoopee pies in chocolate and green tea (pictured)

Squarish doughnuts with a hole and two different fillings piped in

Bbq pork Danish sandwich

Flavored ice teas like kiwi

Ring-style doughnuts that I've only seen in Asia at places like Mister Donut

First-hand accounts:

Brand Eating
TheNHBushman.com

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Apr 1

Chain Links: African Fried Chicken, Roll Cleveland and Arabian Top Chef

Ghanians now have KFC. And while the presence of an American fried chicken chain may signify prosperity in developing countries, in the US the brand isn't faring so well. Ghana already has local Chicken Inn, Papaye, and the UK's Southern Fried Chicken.

Starbucks still hasn't penetrated Italy, and much of Europe is giving the coffee chain problems, too. The British dislike being called by name when their order is up and prefer lattes, though not Starbucks' watery version. The French like to sit while drinking coffee, abhor to-go cups, and along with the US is getting a "blonde" roast because think the espresso tastes too charred. Not in the article: there's a hot, vegetable-heavy wrap on the French menu inexplicably called Roll Cleveland.

Saudi Arabia is teeming with fast food and American franchises, but fine dining isn't at a high level. In reponse, Yasser Jad, founder of the Saudi Arabian Chefs Assocation, is trying to change that with a new cooking school. Also, he was a judge on a Lebanese-produced version of Top Chef. Who knew?

KFC cashiers photo via Twi Teacher, Top Chef Middle East photo via Facebook

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Mar 2

Talking Turkey

I’m back from a New Orleans mini-vacation, and while I reacclimate and get myself together (something about my eating/drinking-filled vacations exhaust rather than recharge) have a look at my latest Fast Food International post on Serious Eats. It’s Çigköftem, a new Turkish vegetarian takeout chain in the East Village.

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Jan 26

Shutting My Pie Hole

Today is Australia day and the official grand opening of Pie Face, the new midtown meat pie shop. Read more about it on Serious Eats. There are freebies to be had if you're in the area!

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Jan 17

International Intrigue: Czech Banh Mi & Cambodian Burgers

Bánh mì has come to Prague. The Czech Republic is home to a growing number of Vietnamese immigrants and consequently restaurants serving pho and the like are on the rise. I don't know much about the Czech palate, but I could see pickles, salami, or hard-boiled eggs being integrated in a bánh mì/chlebíčky mash up (I just wanted to play with as many special characters as possible in a sentence).

Quelle horreur! French women do get fat. But Jenny Craig is there for them with low-calorie packaged beef bourguignon…and chili con carne.

A small number of Cambodian refugees who came to the US in the '70s are returning to their home country. One opened a fast food joint in Phnom Penh called Mike's Burger House. And apparently there isn't much competition since no international chains yet exist in the country (I thought Burger King had its sights set on Cambodia over a year ago, but so far they just have a knock-off).

Photo credit: Things I Ate in Cambodia

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Dec 13

The Philly Phanatics

Kraft’s attempts to integrate cream cheese into dishes where it has no right being has not been lost on me, nor Businessweek. (Do I really have to call it Bloomberg Businessweek?)

What I didn’t realize was that all this kraftiness has the makings of an international incident. Cream cheese is not just being recommended for our All-American soups and casseroles—the white plague originated overseas!

In 2008 the brand realized that its biggest users in Western Europe weren’t just treating the product as spread, but as an ingredient, so the company solicited user recipes, which resulted in freakshows like “Thai Spiced Philadelphia Prawns” and “Middle Eastern Lamb Pies.”

Now it all makes sense. We are feeling the repercussions of cuisines that put quark in their curries, as in the recipe found in the German women’s magazine I read on my flight back from Berlin. Frankly, I’d rather we borrow from nations that put corn and mayonnaise on their pizza.

Just be thankful that Philly Indulgence, a cream cheese-chocolate spread already available in Europe, will arrive here next month instead of other Kraft experiments like grapefruit smoothies and a Vegemite blend.

Photo: German Snack Mania

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Nov 28

Where Every Day Can Be St. Patrick’s Day

I’m off to Berlin for the next week. And while I’m aware that food-wise it’s not exactly a San Sebastian or Copenhagen (my original choice) it concerns me that anyone I’ve mentioned this vacation plan to has seemed unenthused. It’s not all sausages and schnitzels! At least I don’t think so…

Who cares because they have green beer! I’m determined to find this supposedly sour Berliner Weisse that’s sweetened with cherry (red) or woodruff (green) syrup. I wonder if woodruff is anything like mugwort, another herbal agent that lends a green hue to products in other countries. Like mochi cakes in Japan.

Photo via BerlinAndOut

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Nov 13

Foreign Affairs

I haven’t had to time write much (non-day-job stuff–I won't assume anyone cares about CPG ecommerce) lately, but I did manage to scrawl an article for Zagat about how foreign restaurants have been adapting for NYC.

I didn't have the chance to talk with Aamanns, but I'm looking forward to the Danish smørrebrød chain's arrival, which has been pushed to January. I was this close to booking a trip to Copenhagen last week, but got freaked out by how expensive everything was–and after much hemming and hawing–opted for Berlin instead. Not exactly an equivlent culinary destination, but I'm still excited. Did you know that Germany is the only country in the world where the McRib is a standard menu item?

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Nov 8

Chain Links: India is Young and Young People Like to Eat

Fast food appeals to India's vast under-30 population, and it's not all Maharaja Macs and paneer pizza. Homegrown chains like Kaati Zone and Jumbo King (I love those fried potato burgers) are stepping up.

Young people in India (the 50% under 30 stat is cited yet again) also love coffee. Dunkin' Donuts wants a piece of that.

Some Indians, though, are eating at the opposite end of the spectrum. New Delhi's Le Cirque opened in August and has had to accommodate restrictions like Jains' onion and garlic-free diet. Luckily, pasta pirmavera, a Le Cirque invention, is already vegetarian.

Tony Roma’s is one of those Kenny Rogers Roasters-esque restaurants that flounders here but persists abroad. Bangkok and Jakarta now have more American ribs. And so does LA…in a cross-cultural twist, the new Tony Roma’s in Torrance is paired with Capricciosa Italian Restaurant, a Japan-Italian chain. (Both are ran by the same Singapore-based holding company, Mas Millennium.)

Not all American chains are having the same good fortune as KFC or McDonald’s in China. Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, and California Pizza Kitchen have all had to close down branches in Shanghai and Beijing. American businessman, Scott Minoie, has took a different approach and opened a chain of restaurants in China called Element Fresh with no US springboard. He’s been looking to local successes like Hai Di Lao and South Beauty (um, that Sichuan chain is way fancier than Outback or Applebee’s) for inspiration.

Vada pav photo from Jumbo King

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