My hunt for McDonald’s early french-fry recipe

Flasks of bilberry soup, a delicious monster fruit, and more.
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Gastro Obscura

History’s Most Legendary French-Fry

I contacted McDonald’s Golden Archives. No response. I reached out to Hamburger University. Nothing. McDonald’s press wing? Gracefully "not able to provide [the recipe] at this time."⁠ But of course, it wasn’t the corporate pencil-pushers who knew those fries best anyway. It was the line-cooks and their managers who handled the food.⁠ I took it to Reddit, asking about the long-lost recipe. What I found was that someone had divulged—a lot.

For many urbanites and suburbanites with limited land, the Nigerian Dwarf goat brings the dream of backyard livestock within reach. The breed tops out at about 85 pounds, but many are 50 pounds or lighter. None are taller than two feet. First imported from West Africa in the 1930s, these little guys are now among the most popular dairy goats in America.

Aboriginal Comfort Food

For Noka Hrabinsky, growing up in Queensland, Australia, “bush tucker” was a delicious part of everyday life. Now an ethnobotanist, Hrabinsky researches indigenous plants at the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre. At the same time, she shares the flavors of her childhood, as well as those of Aboriginal communities across the continent, at the Lillipad Cafe in Sydney, which she owns with her husband, Laszio Hrabinsky.

Bilberry Soup by the Flaskful

Blåbärssoppa is the hottest, fruitiest soup around, so it's only fitting that during Vasaloppet—the longest, biggest, and oldest cross-country ski race on Earth—more than 15,000 competitors drink over 50,000 liters of the stuff.⁠ The sweet-tart soup is made from bilberries (wild, deep purple berries that flourish in Northern Europe) and Scandinavians in Finland and Sweden swear by it as a cold remedy. ⁠

Celebrating Great Britain’s Great Puddings

The Three Ways House is home to the Pudding Club, an institution with a self-proclaimed mission of preserving the “great British pudding.” Since 1985, dozens of dessert-lovers from around the world gather weekly to gorge on a feast of traditional British sweets, presented with pomp by the hotel’s resident Pudding Master.

Delicious Monster

Did you know that some Monstera deliciosas produce fruit? ⁠The scientific name—literally “delicious monster”—is apt, given the fruit’s tasty yet dangerous potential. (The genus actually gets its name from the plant’s huge, hole-filled leaves.)⁠ Unripe fruits are chock full of oxalic acid, a substance that is used to bleach wood and clean rust off metal, but fully ripe ones offer a wonderful combination of strong tropical flavors like pineapple, coconut, and banana.⁠

French-Fried Turkey Breast All Year Long

Wisconsin’s supper clubs tend to be known for their steaks and fish fries. But the Dreamland Supper Club is known for another specialty entirely: french-fried turkey breast. Combining the heartiness of Thanksgiving dinner with the sweetness of brunch, the meal consists of a piece of turkey breast, dipped in sweet batter and deep-fried, served with drawn butter, tangy cranberries, and a baked potato.

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