7 astonishing facts about the Big Mac
Nuggets with barbecue sauce, the McFlurry, shakes or fries with mayonnaise: there’s plenty to enjoy at McDonald’s. But the Big Mac still remains unbeatable and firmly at the top of the list of favorites. But: did you know this about the Big Mac?
7 astonishing facts about the Big Mac
#1: The Big Mac is a copy of a competitor’s burger
In the 1960s, Jim Delligatti had a few McDonald’s restaurants near Pittsburgh. Things were going well, but Jim thought they could be better. He discovered that most people went to his competitor Big Boy at lunchtime because they had a tastier hamburger. Jimmy copied that Big Boy Burger, and that became the classic Big Mac. The only difference: Jim made his own burger sauce, which tasted just a little different from the competitor’s. Better, according to Jim.
#2: It’s McDonald’s biggest money-making machine
That new hamburger was a hit, which caught the attention of McDonald’s CEO. He made sure the Big Mac appeared on menus all over America in 1969. The Big Mac was a hit everywhere: within a year, the hefty burger accounted for 19 percent of revenue. Today, the Big Mac is sold in 200 countries, and 900 million are sold every year. That’s 2.4 million every day…
#3: It could also have been called ‘The Aristocrat’
At first, it was called ‘Big Mc’. Not a very attractive name, so the people at McDonald’s headquarters searched for a better one. The Aristocrat was considered. And the Blue Ribbon Burger, a reference to the French cooking school Cordon Bleu? One of the secretaries, 21-year-old Esther Glickstein Rose, had a good idea: simply ‘Big Mac’. And that’s what it became. Too bad the director insisted for years that he had come up with that fantastic name, but in 1985 Esther finally received a plaque and all the credit.
#4: The sauce tastes the same as it did in 1972 (again)
When the Big Mac appeared on menus across America, the people at headquarters started tinkering with the burger sauce recipe. In 1972, they got it right: after a few years of testing several variations, they finalized the recipe. In 1991, the recipe was changed, probably to save costs, but loyal customers were not happy about it. After years of protests, the classic sauce returned in 2004.
#5: The sauce recipe is no longer secret
The burger sauce recipe is kept under tight wraps. Some people say it’s simply Thousand Island Dressing, which is also served with the salads. In 2012, director Dan Coudreaut made a video showing how to make the sauce yourself. Ingredients: mayonnaise, pickles, paprika, mustard, white wine vinegar and garlic powder. That actually sounds quite a lot like that classic salad dressing…
#6: Sometimes that burger sauce is insanely expensive
To raise money for the Ronald McDonald Houses, McDonald’s sometimes auctions bottles of the iconic burger sauce. They can fetch thousands of euros. In 2015, the first bottle was auctioned on eBay, where it sold for 15,000 dollars. The following year, the highest bid for a bottle was 69,000 dollars. How big are those bottles, anyway?
#7: The Big Mac isn’t the same everywhere
The classic burger has remained unchanged since 1974: two hamburgers, burger sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onion on a hamburger bun. But there are some variations around the world. In India, for example, they don’t eat beef, so the hamburger there is made with lamb. They also make a Maharaja Mac with chicken. In Israel, a kosher version of the Big Mac is on the menu, without cheese. And in Japan, instead of the second hamburger, you could order a fried egg or a slice of tomato on your burger.
Read also:
- Former McDonald’s employee spills the beans: these are the secret menu items
- 6 McDonald’s dishes that were complete failures
- This is the absolute worst thing you can order at McDonald’s
Source: Mental Floss
