McLovin’ around the world

cLovin’

around the world

WRItING by KIANA GEoRGE AND ARt by CLAIRE tSENG

McDonald’s is arguably the world’s most brilliant franchise. With its famous golden arches and iconic happy meals, McDonald’s has served the world for over 66 years with cheap food, fast service, and a welcoming environment. Now, McDonald’s has over 39,000 locations in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. Let’s take a look at what McDonald’s food items look like across the globe.

In 1979, a Japanese businessman from Osaka was inspired by America’s McDonald’s, where he described that he was in charge of the “quick-service system.” In 1971, he successfully brought the first McDonald’s to Japan and began to put spins on American McDonald’s products to appeal to a Japanese market. McDonald’s team created a pork patty burger glazed with teriyaki sauce in hopes of mimicking the traditional sweet soy sauce teriyaki sauce that is common in the Japanese diet. Due to its popularity, they have recently added five new teriyaki items: the Teriyaki Muffin, the Oyako Teriyaki, the Shaka Shaka Potato Teriyaki McBurger, the Kurokosho Teriyaki, and the Shichimi Togarashi Teriyaki Spiced Burger.

Teriyaki Burger

350¥

C$4.29

Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry

McDonald’s in Canada has a sweet offering with its unique seasonal Easter drink, the Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry. The vanilla soft serve concoction is swirled together with bits of milk chocolate and then whipped with the “yolk” filling of the Cadbury Creme Egg candy. The inventor and franchisee Ron McLellan said, “I never expected that my creation would circle the globe with countries mixing together their own unique flavors.” Although this product has spread to over 99 countries, it most likely won’t come to America, as Cadbury eggs were banned in the U.S. in 2015 when Hershey’s filed a lawsuit against them, stating that Cadbury copied an already existing Hershey chocolate egg.

McSpicy Paneer 159

In India, nearly half the population follows a lacto-vegetarian diet as many live animals are seen as sacred beings that shouldn’t be harmed. Due to this, McDonald’s in India has adjusted their menu to exclude beef and pork. It has created meat-free substitutes, and an example of one of its most popular items is the McSpicy Paneer. Since people had never made large-scale paneer burgers, McDonald’s took two years to develop a paneer filet that was able to hold its shape when fried yet was not overly stiff to the point where it would lose its desirable creamy texture. Now, the McSpicy Paneer is one of the most wanted items and nearly sells out every day across Indian Mcdonald’s outlets.

MX$49

McMolletes

In Spanish cuisine, molletes is an open-faced sandwich that is topped with cheese, refried beans, and additional toppings like avocados or pico de gallo. McDonald’s Mexico put their own spin on the popular breakfast item by serving the typical molletes components on a McMuffin.