It’s no great revelation that food evokes memories as strongly as anything else, often moreso. As a child, my tastes were slightly more pedestrian than today. As a middle-class child growing up in a family of five on the prairies, my palate was accustomed to simpler tastes. And so it was that when my family went out to eat, it was not to four-star (or any star) restaurants with white linen tablecloths. Red Lobster or Olive Garden were about as fancy as it got.
The most common dining destination was a charming Scottish bistro bedecked by a set of golden arches. Of course I’m speaking of McDonald’s. I know that McDonald’s is not met with a lot of enthusiasm (at least not in a positive way) by many of those who will read this. But the folks that know me also know that few things make me as happy as the meal that bears that name: a Happy Meal. I can still vividly remember my parents driving us to McDonald’s, picking up our meals at the drive-through and taking us driving through Kildonan Park (a large, urban park in Winnipeg) before finally coming to a stop somewhere along the way, where we would all enjoy our meals sitting in the car with the windows down in the middle of the park.
Exhausted from what has been (and there is little reason to suspect that this will change) a strange schedule the last couple of days, I was in need of a little pick-me-up, and I felt a Happy Meal would do the trick. So I made my way to the nearest McDonald’s and picked-up a little cardboard lunchbox. Now, McDonald’s abandoned the cardboard Happy Meal box in favour of a paper bag. But for special occasions, they still trot out the box. With the Olympics only days away, McDonald’s Canada has unveiled a special Olympic menu that includes a crème brulee McFlurry, a s’mores pie, as well as two internationally-inspired dipping sauces, Zesty Mango and Spicy Szechuan.
I picked up both new dipping sauces to go with my McNugget Happy Meal. Though many would have assumed that the sauces would be only slight modifications to existing sauces, the Szechuan sauce is unlike anything else they have, while the mango does bare some resemblance to the sweet and sour sauce. The Szechuan sauce was quite good, though not exactly my first choice for pairing with the nuggets or fries. The mango sauce, on the other hand, was a wonderful accompaniment to both (especially the nuggets) and an enjoyable departure from the ordinary sweet and sour sauce.
Best of all, I got the sledge hockey Sumi toy.
PS, if it’s the health issue that bothers you about the whole McDonald’s issue, read this article from the New York Times about the nutritional impact of a Happy Meal.
