Portal:Fast food
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Introduction
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale and with a strong priority placed on "speed of service" versus other relevant factors involved in culinary science. Fast food was originally created as a commercial strategy to accommodate the larger numbers of busy commuters, travelers and wage workers who often did not have the time to sit down at a public house or diner and wait for their meal. By making speed of service the priority, this ensured that customers with strictly limited time (a commuter stopping to procure dinner to bring home to their family, for example, or an hourly laborer on a short lunch break) were not inconvenienced by waiting for their food to be cooked on-the-spot (as is expected from a traditional "sit down" restaurant). For those with no time to spare, fast food became a multi-billion dollar industry.
The fastest form of "fast food" consists of pre-cooked meals kept in readiness for a customer's arrival (Boston Garden rotisserie chicken, Little Caesars pizza, etc), with waiting time reduced to mere seconds. Other fast food outlets, primarily the hamburger outlets (McDonald's, Burger King, etc.) use mass-produced pre-prepared ingredients (bagged buns & condiments, frozen beef patties, prewashed/sliced vegetables, etc.) but take great pains to point out to the customer that the "meat and potatoes" (hamburgers and french fries) are always cooked fresh (or at least relatively recently) and assembled "to order" (like at a diner).
Selected general articles
A gyro or gyros (Greek: γύρος, gyros [ˈʝiros], literally 'turn') is a Greek dish made from meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Originally lamb, in Greece it is now most often pork, or chicken, while a mixture of beef and lamb is common in the US and other countries. It is usually served wrapped or stuffed in a flatbread such as pita, with tomato, onion, tzatziki sauce, and sometimes french fries. Like the related dishes shawarma and tacos al pastor, it is derived from the doner kebab. Read more...
A Buffalo wing, in the cuisine of the United States, is an unbreaded chicken wing section (flat or drumette) that is generally deep-fried then coated and/or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving. The Buffalo wing was invented in 1964 at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York by Teressa Bellissimo. They are generally served hot, along with celery sticks and/or carrot sticks with blue cheese dressing for dipping.
Buffalo wings have gained in popularity in the United States and abroad, with some North American restaurant chains featuring them as a main menu item. The name "Buffalo" is now also applied to other spiced fried foods served with dipping sauces, including boneless chicken "fingers", chicken fries, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, and shrimp. It also describes other dishes, such as pizza, that are seasoned with the Buffalo-style sauce or a Buffalo flavor seasoning. Read more...
A taco (/ˈtɑːkoʊ/, UK also /ˈtækoʊ/, Spanish: [ˈtako]) is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables, and cheese, allowing great versatility and variety. Tacos are generally eaten without utensils, often garnished with salsa, chili pepper, avocado, guacamole, cilantro (coriander), tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. Read more...
Junk food is a pejorative term for food containing a large number of calories from sugar or fat with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals. The term can also refer to high protein food like meat prepared with saturated fat. Food from many hamburger joints, pizza places and fried chicken outlets is often considered junk food.[better source needed]
Concerns about the negative health effects resulting from a junk food-heavy diet, especially obesity, have resulted in public health awareness campaigns, and restrictions on advertising and sale in several countries. Read more...
The hot dog or dog (also spelled hotdog) is a grilled or steamed link-sausage sandwich where the sausage is served in the slit of a special hot dog bun, a partially sliced bun. It can also refer to just the sausage (the wurst or wörst) of its composition. Typical sausages include wiener (Vienna sausage), frankfurter (or frank), or knackwurst. The names of these sausages also commonly refer to their assembled sandwiches. Typical condiments include mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, and relish, and common garnishes include onions, sauerkraut, chili, cheese, coleslaw, and olives. Hot dog variants include the corn dog and pigs in a blanket. The hot dog's cultural traditions include the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Although schnitzel does not commonly refer to a link sausage, the fast food restaurant Wienerschnitzel is famous for its hot dogs.
These types of sausages and their sandwiches were culturally imported from Germany and popularized in the United States, where the "hot dog" became a working-class street food sold at hot dog stands and carts. The hot dog became closely associated with baseball and American culture. Hot dog preparation and condiments vary regionally in the US. Although particularly connected with New York City and its cuisine, the hot dog eventually became ubiquitous throughout the US during the 20th century, and emerged as an important part of other regional cuisines (notably Chicago street cuisine). Read more...
A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner.
Food courts may be found in shopping malls, airports, and parks. In various regions (such as Asia, the Americas, and Africa), it may be a standalone development. In some places of learning such as high schools and universities, food courts have also come to replace or complement traditional cafeterias. Read more...- Criticism of fast food includes claims of negative health effects, alleged animal cruelty, cases of worker exploitation, children targeted marketing and claims of cultural degradation via shifts in people's eating patterns away from traditional foods. Fast food chains have come under fire from consumer groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a longtime fast food critic over issues such as caloric content, trans fats and portion sizes. Social scientists have highlighted how the prominence of fast food narratives in popular urban legends suggests that modern consumers have an ambivalent relationship (characterized by guilt) with fast food, particularly in relation to children.
The fall 2013 issue of Ms. magazine promotes the need for higher fast food worker wages
Some of these concerns have helped give rise to the slow food and local food movements. These movements seek to promote local cuisines and ingredients, and directly oppose laws and habits that encourage fast food choices. Proponents of the slow food movement try to educate consumers about what its members consider the environmental, nutritional, and taste benefits of fresh, local foods. Read more...
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably the earliest and most widespread cereal food eaten in prehistoric societies.
The pancake's shape and structure varies worldwide. In Britain, pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe. In North America, a leavening agent is used (typically baking powder). American pancakes are similar to Scotch pancakes or drop scones. A crêpe is a thin Breton pancake of French origin cooked on one or both sides in a special pan or crepe maker to achieve a lacelike network of fine bubbles. A well-known variation originating from southeast Europe is a palačinke, a thin moist pancake fried on both sides and filled with jam, cheese cream, chocolate, or ground walnuts, but many other fillings—sweet or savoury—can also be used. Read more...
Macaroni and cheese—also called mac and cheese or mac n cheese in American and Canadian English, can sometimes be called macaroni pie in Caribbean English, and macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom—is of English origin, consisting of cooked macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce, most commonly cheddar. It can also incorporate other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs, meat and vegetables.
Traditional macaroni and cheese is a casserole baked in the oven; however, it may be prepared in a sauce pan on top of the stove or using a packaged mix. The cheese is often first incorporated into a Béchamel sauce to create a Mornay sauce, which is then added to the pasta. In the United States, it is considered a comfort food. Read more...
A food cart is a mobile kitchen that is set up on the street to facilitate the sale and marketing of street food to people from the local pedestrian traffic. Food carts are often found in large cities throughout the world and can be found selling food of just about any varieties.
Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit or stand inside and serve food through a window. Another uses all of the room inside the cart for storage and to house the cooking machinery, usually some type of grilling surface. The cart style is determined principally by the type of food served at the cart. Read more...
Pizza is a savory dish of Italian origin, consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and various other ingredients (anchovies, olives, meat, etc.) baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. In formal settings, like a restaurant, pizza is eaten with knife and fork, but in casual settings it is cut into wedges to be eaten while held in the hand. Small pizzas are sometimes called pizzettas.
The term pizza was first recorded in the 10th century in a Latin manuscript from the Southern Italian town of Gaeta in Lazio, on the border with Campania. Modern pizza was invented in Naples, and the dish and its variants have since become popular in many countries. Today it is one of the most popular foods in the world and a common fast food item in Europe and North America, available at pizzerias (restaurants specializing in pizza), restaurants offering Mediterranean cuisine, and via pizza delivery. Many companies sell ready-baked frozen pizzas to be reheated in an ordinary home oven. Read more...
A pretzel (
listen (help·info)) (German: Breze(l)) (
listen (help·info)) is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly shaped into a twisted knot. Pretzels originated in Europe, possibly among monastery monks in the Early Middle Ages. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive nonsymmetrical form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwined and then twisted back into itself in a certain way (a pretzel loop). In modern times, pretzels come in a range of different shapes. Salt is the most common seasoning for pretzels, complementing the washing soda or lye treatment that gives pretzels their traditional skin and flavor through the Maillard reaction; other seasonings include various cheeses, sugars, chocolate, glazes, seeds, or nuts. There are several varieties of pretzels, including soft pretzels, which must be eaten shortly after preparation, and hard-baked pretzels, which have a long shelf life. Read more...
A hamburger, beefburger or burger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat, usually beef, placed inside a sliced bread roll or bun. The patty may be pan fried, grilled, or flame broiled. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon, onion, pickles, or chiles; condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, or "special sauce"; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
The term "burger" can also be applied to the meat patty on its own, especially in the UK where the term "patty" is rarely used, or the term can even refer simply to ground beef. The term may be prefixed with the type of meat or meat substitute used, as in "turkey burger", "bison burger", or "veggie burger". Read more...
A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese. Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty, but the burger can include many variations in structure, ingredients, and composition. The cheese is normally added to the cooking hamburger patty shortly before serving, which allows the cheese to melt. As with other hamburgers, a cheeseburger may include toppings, such as lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, or bacon; examples of less common toppings might be spinach or olives.[citation needed]
In fast food restaurants, the cheese used is normally processed cheese, but essentially any other meltable cheeses may be used—common examples include cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, blue Cheese, and pepper jack. Very soft/wet cheeses that melt poorly—like cream cheese, cottage cheese, or ricotta—are very unusual, and very hard/dry cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano would rarely be used in quantities sufficient to be a recognizable topping as opposed to a seasoning.[citation needed] Read more...
Kiełbasa biała (white sausage), szynkowa (smoked), śląska and podhalańska styles (Poland)
A sausage is a cylindrical meat product usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef, or veal, along with salt, spices and other flavourings, and breadcrumbs, encased by a skin. Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes from synthetic materials. Sausages that are sold raw are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing and the casing may then be removed.
Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying (often in association with fermentation or culturing, which can contribute to preservation), smoking, or freezing. Some cured or smoked sausages can be stored without refrigeration. Most fresh sausages must be refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked. Read more...
Doner kebab (also döner kebab) (UK: /ˈdɒnərkɪˈbæb/, US: /ˈdoʊnər kɪˈbɑːb/; Turkish: döner or döner kebap [døˈnɛɾ ˈcebɑp]) is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The outer layer is sliced into thin shavings as it cooks. The vertical rotisserie was invented in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, and doner kebab inspired similar dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Greek gyros, and Mexican al pastor.
The sliced meat of a doner kebab may be served on a plate with various accompaniments, stuffed into a pita or other type of bread as a sandwich, or wrapped in a thin flatbread such as lavash or yufka, known as a dürüm (literally meaning roll or wrap in Turkish). Since the early 1970s, the sandwich or wrap form has become popular around the world as a fast food dish sold by kebab shops, and is often called simply a "kebab". The sandwich generally contains salad or vegetables, which may include tomato, lettuce, cabbage, onion with sumac, fresh or pickled cucumber, or chili, and various types of sauces. Read more...- Instant ramen noodles
Convenience food, or tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have a long shelf life, or offer a combination of such convenient traits. Although restaurant meals meet this definition, the term is seldom applied to them. Convenience foods include ready-to-eat dry products, frozen foods such as TV dinners, shelf-stable foods, prepared mixes such as cake mix, and snack foods.
Bread, cheese, salted food and other prepared foods have been sold for thousands of years. Other kinds were developed with improvements in food technology. Types of convenience foods can vary by country and geographic region. Some convenience foods have received criticism due to concerns about nutritional content and how their packaging may increase solid waste in landfills. Various methods are used to reduce the unhealthy aspects of commercially produced food and fight childhood obesity. Read more...
Onion rings are a form of appetizer or side dish commonly found in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and some parts of Asia, Continental Europe, and Latin America. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion (the circular structure of which lends itself well to this method of preparation) dipped in batter or bread crumbs and then deep fried; a variant is made with onion paste. While typically served as a side dish, onion rings can also be eaten on their own. Like other cooked onion dishes, the cooking process decomposes propanethial oxide in the onion into the sweet-smelling and tasting bispropenyl disulfide, responsible for the slightly sweet taste of onion rings. Read more...
French toast is a dish made of bread soaked in eggs and milk, then fried. Alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, German toast, gypsy toast, poor knights (of Windsor), and Torrija. Read more...
Upper left: A Meat Feast Parmo from Stockton-on-Tees, UK. Upper right: Fish and chips. Lower left: Pizza delivery. Lower right: Döner kebab
Take-out or takeout (in North America—U.S. and Canada—and the Philippines); carry-out (in some dialects in the U.S. and Scotland); take-away (in the United Kingdom other than Scotland, Australia, South Africa, and Ireland), takeaways (in New Zealand), parcel (in Indian and Pakistani English), refer to prepared meals or other food items, purchased at a restaurant, that the purchaser intends to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take-out food is now common worldwide, with a number of different cuisines and dishes on offer. Read more...
A peanut butter and jelly (or jam) sandwich, or PB&J, includes one or more layers of peanut butter and one or more layers of jelly (called jam in British English) on bread. Sometimes the sandwich is eaten open-faced or with one slice of bread folded over (effectively a "half sandwich"). The sandwich is quite common and popular in North America, especially for children; a 2002 survey showed the average American will have eaten 1,500 of these sandwiches before high school graduation.
There are several variations on the sandwich. For example, honey or sliced fruit can be substituted for the jelly component. On the flip side, the popularity of almond butter has inspired some aficionados to transition to "almond butter and jelly" (AB&J) sandwiches. Other nut butters are less common. Marshmallow fluff can also be substituted for the jelly, or simply added for extra flavor; this sandwich is called a "fluffernutter". Cream cheese, substituted for the peanut butter, makes a cream cheese and jelly sandwich. Nutella is another possible substitute for one of the spreads. Read more...
A snack is a portion of food, smaller than a regular meal, generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
Traditionally, snacks are prepared from ingredients commonly available in the home. Often cold cuts, fruits, leftovers, nuts, biscuits, sandwiches, chocolate, popcorn and sweets are used as snacks. The Dagwood sandwich was originally the humorous result of a cartoon character's desire for large snacks. With the spread of convenience stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business. Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick, and satisfying. Processed snack foods, as one form of convenience food, are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially-designed flavors (such as flavored potato chips). Read more...
This is a list of street foods. Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink typically sold by a vendor on a street and in other public places, such as at a market or fair. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and meant for immediate consumption. Some street foods are regional, but many have spread beyond their region of origin. Street food vending is found all around the world, but varies greatly between regions and cultures.
Most street foods are classed as both finger food and fast food, and are cheaper on average than restaurant meals. According to a 2007 study from the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day. Read more...
French fries, or just fries (North American English); chips (British and Commonwealth English), finger chips (Indian English), or French-fried potatoes are batonnet or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes. In the United States and most of Canada, the term fries refers to all dishes of fried elongated pieces of potatoes, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, thinly cut fried potatoes are sometimes called shoestring fries or skinny fries to distinguish them from chips, which are cut thicker.
French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as part of lunch or dinner or by themselves as a snack, and they commonly appear on the menus of diners, fast food restaurants, pubs, and bars. They are usually salted and, depending on the country, may be served with ketchup, vinegar, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, or other local specialties. Fries can be topped more heavily, as in the dishes of poutine and chili cheese fries. Chips can be made from kumara or other sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. A baked variant, oven chips, uses less oil or no oil. One very common fast food dish is fish and chips. Read more...
A cookie is a baked or cooked food that is small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar and some type of oil or fat. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
In most English-speaking countries except for the United States and Canada, crisp cookies are called biscuits. Chewier biscuits are sometimes called cookies even in the United Kingdom. Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars. Read more...
A food truck is a large vehicle equipped to cook and sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratch. Sandwiches, hamburgers, french fries, and other regional fast food fare is common. In recent years, associated with the pop-up restaurant phenomenon, food trucks offering gourmet cuisine and a variety of specialties and ethnic menus, have become particularly popular. Food trucks, along with portable food booths and food carts, are on the front line of the street food industry that serves an estimated 2.5 billion people every day. Read more...
Ice cream (derived from earlier iced cream or cream ice) is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It is usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavors. It is typically sweetened with sugar or sugar substitutes. Typically, flavourings and colourings are added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is stirred to incorporate air spaces and cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures (< 2 °C or 35 °F). It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.
The meaning of the phrase "ice cream" varies from one country to another. Phrases such as "frozen custard", "frozen yogurt", "sorbet", "gelato", and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase "ice cream" applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients, notably the amount of cream. Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice cream are labelled "frozen dairy dessert" instead. In other countries, such as Italy and Argentina, one word is used for all variants. Analogues made from dairy alternatives, such as goat's or sheep's milk, or milk substitutes (e.g., soy milk or tofu), are available for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy protein, or vegan. Read more...
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork. Bacon is prepared from several different cuts of meat, typically from the pork belly or from back cuts, which have less fat than the belly. It is eaten on its own, as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), or used as a minor ingredient to flavour dishes (e.g., the club sandwich). Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially game, including venison and pheasant. The word is derived from the Old High German bacho, meaning "buttock", "ham" or "side of bacon", and is cognate with the Old French bacon.
Meat from other animals, such as beef, lamb, chicken, goat, or turkey, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to as "bacon". Such use is common in areas with significant Jewish and Muslim populations, both of which prohibit the consumption of pork. Read more...- The following is a list of notable current and former fast food restaurant chains, as distinct from fast casual restaurants (see List of casual dining restaurant chains), coffeehouses (see List of coffeehouse chains), ice cream parlors (see List of ice cream parlor chains), and pizzerias (see List of pizza chains). Read more...
A salad is a dish consisting of a mixture of small pieces of food, usually vegetables. However, different varieties of salad may contain virtually any type of ready-to-eat food. Salads are typically served at room temperature or chilled, with notable exceptions such as south German potato salad which is served warm.
Garden salads use a base of leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula/rocket, kale or spinach; they are common enough that the word salad alone often refers specifically to garden salads. Other types include bean salad, tuna salad, fattoush, Greek salad (vegetable based, but without leafy greens), and sōmen salad (a noodle-based salad). The sauce used to flavor a salad is commonly called a salad dressing; most salad dressings are based on either a mixture of oil and vinegar or a fermented milk product like kefir. Read more...
Pasta (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpasta]) is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, with the first reference dating to 1154 in Sicily. Also commonly used to refer to the variety dishes made with it, pasta is typically made from an unleavened dough of a durum wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Some pastas can be made using rice flour in place of wheat flour to yield a different taste and texture, or for those who need to avoid products containing gluten.
Pastas may be divided into two broad categories: dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca). Most dried pasta is produced commercially via an extrusion process, although it can be produced in the home. Fresh pasta is traditionally produced by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple machines. Fresh pastas available in grocery stores are produced commercially by large-scale machines. Read more...
A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially precooked and frozen. Read more...
A grilled cheese sandwich is a sandwich generally made with one or more varieties of cheese (a cheese sandwich) on any sort of grilled or toasted bread, such as flat bread or wheat bread, that may include spreads such as butter or mayonnaise. Read more...
In North America, a breakfast sandwich is any sandwich filled with foods associated with the breakfast meal. Breakfast sandwiches are served at fast food restaurants and delicatessens or bought as fast, ready to heat and eat sandwiches from a store. Breakfast sandwiches are commonly made at home. Read more...
Breakfast sausage (or country sausage) is a type of fresh pork sausage usually served at breakfast in the United States. It is a common breakfast item in traditional American "farmer" or "country" breakfasts, as it originated as a way for farmers to make use of as much of their livestock (usually pigs) as possible. Scraps and trimmings were ground, seasoned and later consumed by the farmer as an inexpensive, high-protein morning meal.
It is perhaps most popular for home consumption in rural areas, particularly in the southern states, where it is in the form of fresh or smoked patties or links (the latter might have a natural or synthetic casing, or no form of any casing). Most diners, fast-food restaurants, and family restaurants across the country will also carry one or more versions of it during breakfast hours, whether on a sandwich, in a breakfast platter, or both; some fine-dining establishments will also have a sausage option on their breakfast or brunch menu. The cased link variety is most similar to English-style sausages and has been produced in the United States since colonial days. It is essentially a highly seasoned ground meat, so it does not keep and should be stored and handled appropriately. Newer variations made from pork and beef mixtures as well as poultry can also be found. There are also vegetarian varieties that use textured vegetable protein in place of meat. In the United States, the predominant flavorings used for seasoning are black pepper or white pepper and sage, although there are varieties also seasoned with cayenne pepper, or even maple syrup. Some breakfast sausage is flavored with cured bacon. Read more...
Fried chicken (also referred to as Southern fried chicken for the variant in the United States) is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan-fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken. What separates fried chicken from other fried forms of chicken is that generally the chicken is cut at the joints, and the bones and skin are left intact. Crisp well-seasoned skin, rendered of excess fat, is a hallmark of well made fried chicken. Read more...Fast food Course Main meal Serving temperature Hot or cold Main ingredients Chicken
Spaghetti (Italian pronunciation: [spaˈɡetti]; sing. spaghetto) is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta. Spaghettoni is a thicker form of spaghetti, while capellini is a very thin spaghetti. It is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine. Like other pasta, spaghetti is made of milled wheat and water and sometimes enriched with vitamins and minerals. Authentic Italian spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but elsewhere it may be made with other kinds of flour. Typically the pasta is white because refined flour is used, but whole wheat flour may be added.
Originally, spaghetti was notably long, but shorter lengths gained in popularity during the latter half of the 20th century and now it is most commonly available in 25–30 cm (10–12 in) lengths. A variety of pasta dishes are based on it, and it is frequently served with tomato sauce or meat or vegetables. Read more...- A food booth (also food stand, temporary food service facility) is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade, near a stadium or otherwise. Sometimes the term also refers to the business operations and vendors that operate from such booths. Read more...
Food booth vendors cooking sausages at University District Street Fair, University District, Seattle, Washington.
Chicken fingers, also known as chicken tenders, chicken goujons, chicken strips or chicken fillets, are chicken meat prepared from the pectoralis minor muscles of the animal. These strips of white meat are located on either side of the breastbone, under the breast meat, sometimes just pulverized chicken flesh. (pectoralis major). They may also be made with similarly shaped pieces cut from chicken meat, usually the breast.
Chicken fingers are prepared by coating chicken meat in a breading mixture and then deep frying them, in a manner similar to the preparation of schnitzel. Chicken fingers are a common snack in the U.S. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that the stretchiness and melting characteristics of pizza cheese can be improved using a blend of vetch milk and cow's milk in its preparation?
- ... that cheese and crackers has been described as one of the first fast foods in the United States?
- ... that during Passover, some people use matzah as a substitute for traditional pizza crusts?
- ... that Burger King withdrew an advert featuring Mary J. Blige singing about a crispy chicken wrap due to the racial stereotype associated with fried chicken?
- ... that New York-style pizza is most commonly ordered by the slice in New York City?
- ... that basketball player Charles Bassey was discovered at the age of 12 selling fried chicken by a coach in Nigeria?
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Selected images
McDonald's first two-lane drive-thru was at the Rock N Roll McDonald's in Chicago.
McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut fast food restaurants in the United Arab Emirates
Neighboring fast food restaurant advertisement signs in Bowling Green, Kentucky for Wendy's, KFC, Krystal and Taco Bell. A McDonald's sign can be seen in the very far background.
A small restaurant with pasztecik szczeciński in Szczecin, Poland
Fish and chips in a wrapper
Fastfood in Ilorin, Kwara
Street vendor serving fast food in Nepal
Hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks are typical fast food items
Fast-food place in Portugal
Fastfood restaurant in Eastern Europe: The Pajdaš (in Prekmurje dialect Buddy), Murska Sobota Slovenia.
Pulling wheat dough into thin strands to form lamian
Blue plaque in Oldham, England commemorating the 1860s origins of fish and chips and the fast food industry
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