In defense of better junk food

Not too long ago, I had the luck of joining a small group of food scientists in touring P.F. Chang’s headquarters, in Scottsdale, Ariz. We were led through a maze of test kitchens and that’s where I came to appreciate how the restaurant company decides what ends up on their menus. Our tour guide was the senior product development manager for the company’s “fast casual” spinoff Pei Wei Asian Diner. He gave us a brief look into his job traveling through countries like China, Vietnam, and Thailand looking for the “best of the best” of ingredients. “It all began with the sauce,” he said, “flavor was king.” Then came the decision of what food items (e.g. chicken) on which to place the sauce. Once a novel concept was thoroughly developed came sensory analysis testing with trained focus groups and, finally, pilot runs at a handful of restaurants. Collecting pilot data was a critical step to be sure a product wouldn’t fail once launched. He gave examples of some of his successes and that’s when I became curious.

Review: For God, Country, & Coca-Cola (revised 3rd Edition)

When Mark Pendergrast was a boy, his mother refused to allow Coca-Cola in the house. She told him it would rot his teeth, disturb his sleep, and pollute his body with chemicals. Her warnings backfired, however, only making “something mysterious and enticing about the dark, bubbly liquid.” He’d go on to sneak a sip of the forbidden drink at a friend’s house, a moment he describes as when “nothing has ever tasted so sinfully good.”

The soft drink was far from the witches’ brew he was led to believe, although there was some wickedness in it. As another surreptitious Coke drinker described it, Pendergrast writes, “the effervescence was boldly astringent and as clean as a knife; the flavor suggested the corrupt spices of Araby and a hint, perhaps, of brimstone.”