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Teach me about Russia. | 131 comments (131 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
A few observations on this:

Here in the former communist states, McDonalds arrived as a relatively expensive glittering Western phenomenon - and that meant that they were definitely cleaner and friendlier, even cleaner and friendlier than their Western counterparts. What's more, posh - altough I have seen examples elsewhere (Stockholm), for example the McDonalds built into the renovated restaurant of Budapest's Nyugati pályaudvar (West railway station) is (was) classier.

On the other hand, not only is the time of this higher image over, but personally I can't stand the food. It tastes good for a few seconds, but once I stand up to leave, my bowels start bloating, my hands keep an unpleasant odour hard to wash down, the same fouls my mouth and teeth to the extent that I fear others smelling my breath, and half an hour later I feel both hungry again and sick. I tought this is due some speciality in my metabolism until I saw Super Size Me - in which the documentarist describes a similar reaction. (How are others with this?)

The only upside for me was that McDonalds (and other fast food chains that arrived sometime later) had smoke-free restaurants, opened all day. However, they no longer have that speciality since Chinese and Turkish/Arab/Greek restaurants arrived (Alex, I suspect you'd love my older diary on this).

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 10:27:21 AM EST
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Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
until the neo-Nazis made order and swept the floor...

Excellent!!

ps: about McDonald's, I of course stopped going there when I stopped eating meat, but when I used to go (once in a while), I'd feel a bit like you. Greasy hands, bad breath, still hungry 30 minutes later. But never sick though ... I think my stomach is made of titanium, from all the third-world countries I've lived (and eaten) in. I've never had a gastroenteritis for example, the kind of thing that everyone seems to get year in, year out, though I've eaten dodgy-looking food in really shady food joints in very dirty markets. Must have something to do with developing immunity against common amoeba (I landed in Bombay when I was barely 3 years old).

by Alex in Toulouse on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 10:57:37 AM EST
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Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
Well, even tough I eat rather internationally, I admit to a more sensitive stomach. Another example is glutamine, which the first Chinese restaurants put into everything - and I could only identify the cause when I accidentally read of "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" on a US webpage...

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 11:02:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
glutamine? (none / 0)
do you mean monosodium glutamate?

this used to be extracted from kombu seaweed, which also has the propensity to make accompanying foods taste better by its action on the taste buds.

then they started synthesising it and now it's a poison!

i remember kraft's 'accent', which was pure monodium glutamate crystals to sprinkle on your whatever - early 60's?

kelp is the fastest growing plant in the world, on land or ocean floor. seeing fish swim through forests of it was one lovely vision.
kombu is the japanese name for it.

 great stuff. just chuck a leaf in the beans and it adds so many minerals and vitamins - including the (vitally precious for vegans and vegetarians) B12.

my favourite way to eat it is to take it out of the boiling broth and saute it with a little garlic, soysauce and sesame seeds in a little olive oil until crackly-crunchy.

i wonder if russians eat seaweed....

sorry colman!

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 01:38:25 PM EST
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Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
What you say about the initial image that McDonald's had in the former communist states reminds me of the time the (first) McDonald's opened in Colombo. Sometimes there were long queues of customers, it was definitely a posh place to dine out, and a hang out spot for trendy youths who'd come to show off the latest mobile phone or hairspray. One regular burger meal there was about 300 rupees (1/6th the salary of a factory worker).

I'd observe all of them because I'd often come to eat, with friends, right across the street from the McDonald's, at this Muslim joint where they served parathas, chicken koodai, parippu, malu and alu curry ... for one tenth the price of that greasy disgusting burger meal from across the street. All you had to do was not worry about the setting (on a plastic table set on the pavement, with stray dogs hanging around, eager to get a tossed bone, with crows just waiting for you to look the other way to come and snatch stuff from your plate) ... which was ultimately non-posh. And some of my friends were hot-shot lankan lawyers and such, not afraid of the seedy aspect of the place ... they just weren't buying the appeal of the posh scenes and costly burgers from across the street.

by Alex in Toulouse on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 02:04:20 PM EST
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Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
For curious people: the hygiene was good. Plates would be brought in already clean, but a large bowl of hot water was also placed on the table before the meal so you could further wash the plate, which everyone did by dipping it, scrubbing a bit, then tossing the water on the sidewalk (this hot water bowl was a standard procedure, ie. not just because a white person was there).
by Alex in Toulouse on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 02:09:41 PM EST
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Re: Teach me about Russia. (none / 0)
For even more curious people, a picture of the McDonald's I mention: here
by Alex in Toulouse on Tue Jan 10th, 2006 at 02:17:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Teach me about Russia. | 131 comments (131 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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