Fifty years is a long time in the restaurant industry. Foodie reputations have been made (and lost) in far less time. And the British high street today is certainly a different place from Powis Street in Woolwich in 1974, when glam rock dominated the charts, Harold Wilson was in No 10 and the UK’s first McDonald’s opened.
We quickly embraced it. When I was growing up, there was no more boastworthy occasion than a McDonald’s birthday party. The year 2000 may not have brought jet packs, but the new McFlurry was just as big a deal.
These days, McDonald’s Chefs’ Council is constantly innovating, brainstorming trends and planning limited-time-only menu items. (Recent highlights include the Philly Cheese Stack and the towering Hat Trick burger.) But there’s no change more fundamental than the one unveiled this April.
The goal was to dial up the deliciousness of the core burger range without losing what is so loved by OG fans – who I know, from my experience as a food writer, include many a chef after a hard shift. Helmed in the UK and Ireland by McDonald’s head of menu Thomas O’Neill, it was a huge project.
“Ray Kroc, who built the McDonald’s empire, said we take the hamburger business more seriously than anybody else,” says O’Neill – himself partial to details like grill pressure settings, patty temperature and mouthfeel. “People love our burgers the way they are, but we’ve found a way to just turn up the volume on the bits they love the most.”
There’s been no change to the 100 per cent British and Irish beef patties made from whole cuts of forequarter and flank. But to bring the flavours into pin-sharp focus, O’Neill and his team have made some clever tweaks to the burgers and the way they are prepared in the nearly 1,500 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland.
It’s hard to improve on a classic like the Big Mac – but McDonald’s head of menu has beefed up the flavour to another level. Food writer Emma Sturgess puts it to the taste test
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Taste maker
Thomas O’Neill, McDonald’s head of menu
Just for the bun of it
Aryzta Bakeries brings extra flavour to the Big Mac; Chris Watson (below) oversees production
To find out more, visit McDonald’s Plan for Change
Dial up the deliciousness
Photography by Morgan Silk
A new bun recipe brings contemporary brioche-style flair and the gentle sheen beloved by burger connoisseurs. Chris Watson is head of product and business development at Aryzta Bakeries, one of McDonald’s bun supplier partners. “We’ve made simple improvements in taste, texture and flavour,” he says. “Softness is key – you want a soft, pillowy bun to bite into.”
The flavours now match the delights within: the mustard and ketchup in a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, the subtle taste of dill in the legendary Big Mac sauce. They are also toasted for slightly longer, so the buns hold onto that heat.
In the restaurant, the changes start on the grill, which clamps down from above to cook each patty from both sides. “It closes quicker and then releases,” says O’Neill, “so you get the sear first and then lock in that taste and juiciness – and the patty is hotter.”
This means when the cheese hits the burger it is smoother and meltier. Crew members also now add diced onions to the Hamburger, Cheeseburger and Big Mac at the grill. This new proximity suits both onions (which soak up the beefy juices) and beef (which gains extra flavour).
This all sounds great, but the proof of a burger is in the eating. So I run my own taste test in my local McDonald’s, where an almost comically perfect wreath of steam rises from my hamburger as I unwrap it. The bun is giving serious toasted caramelisation, deeply coloured and toasty, and although the flavour of the patty is familiar to this enthusiast, it tastes like the kitchen is having a great day.
And in the Quarter Pounder with Cheese box, alchemy seems to have occurred; busting out of its bun like the big eat it is, the juicy patty is enhanced by rivulets of melting cheese, in a springy, sweet bun that can handle the challenge. I’m not going to admit to also eating a Big Mac at the same sitting, but let’s just say everything seems to be on point.
It looks like McDonald’s reputation with successive generations is in good hands.
if it has too, ideally above
but can go below
This burger just went up to 11
A great burger begins with quality ingredients, and beef farmers are at the heart of that. McDonald’s is funding research into alternative ways of grazing, helping beef farmers reduce their impact on the environment as well as improving animal welfare and farmer wellbeing and, of course, a fantastic end product.
And because good fries are also non-negotiable, a £1 million Sustainable Fries Fund is powering British potato farmers towards optimised water use and better soil quality.
Sustainability is also a focus in the bakeries that supply those new, improved buns. High-tech heat-retention systems and careful management of food waste are some of the actions being taken to reduce environmental impact.
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Quality from the ground up
Change a Little, Change a Lot; Big Mac; McFlurry; and Quarter Pounder are registered trademarks of McDonald’s Corporation and its affiliates.
Change a Little, Change a Lot; Big Mac; McFlurry; and Quarter Pounder are registered trademarks of McDonald’s Corporation and its affiliates.