Thursday, October 18, 2012

Back From Hibernation and Larger Portions

Peanut butter mango chutney bar

It is nice to be back blogging after a long hibernation. And weirdly I hibernated through summer and woke up just before winter, instead of the other way around. I will get it right next time.

And helping to jump start me was a guest post request from Ping. For her I made peanut butter mango chutney bar. Please visit Pings Pickings for more details and to see other wonderful culinary delights and works of art.  

Today's Favourite Photo
White chocolate cheesecake with passion fruit sauce





Today’s Favourite Blog
Source: Grist

The facts presented in this article are pretty interesting and shocking. It talks about portion size. As usual McDonalds is mentioned right at the start, but there seems to be a good side to their methods. It has taken some steps to improve its image, launching vegetarian restaurants in India and putting fresh apples into Happy Meals. McDonald’s also offers flexible portions. There is a choice of a cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, quarter pounder with cheese, or double quarter pounder with cheese. Chicken nuggets come in different portion sizes, four, six, nine, or 20. So the customer chooses how much to eat.

The french fries McDonalds introduced in 1955 weighed 2.4 ounces and had 210 calories. Today, this is considered small size and there is super size which is 7.1 ounces and 610 calories. The biggest portion size of french fries in the United States is 37 percent larger than the largest size available in the United Kingdom.

Its not just fries where sizes have expanded. Other interesting examples include:
- From 1982 to 2002, the average pizza slice grew 70 percent in calories.
- The average chicken Caesar salad doubled in calories.
- The average chocolate chip cookie quadrupled in calories.
- Our plates have grown to hold all those portions, too. The surface area of the average dinner plate expanded by 36 percent between 1960 and 2007.
- Serving sizes in the Joy of Cooking cookbook have increased 33.2 percent since 1996 alone. That is, a recipe that used to “serve 10” now “serves seven” (or the ingredient amounts are greater for the same number of servings).

As a result of portion sizes we are eating more and wasting more. On average, diners waste 17 percent of meals, and 55 percent of these leftovers are not taken home. The problem is that food costs is relatively small compared to other costs. As such restaurants increase portion size making the food look better value. So from the business perspective it makes sense. 

18 comments:

  1. Welcome back! I'm sure I speak for most when I say you've been missed.
    Thank you again for this unusual bar (at least to me, it is). I've almost always had just some kind of regular jam in stuff like this. When I get my hands on some mango chutney, I'll definitely try it out.
    Well, yeah, people are definitely bigger these days, due to the larger portions available or better nutrition(?), so I guess they'll need extra to fill them up! But I agree about it just being something to justify the rising cost of food these days. Altho I don't see any difference in MacD's sizes from before (not that I eat a lot of their stuff anyway).

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    1. Thanks so much, its certainly great to be back:)
      I haven't noticed any changes in McD's either, though I suspect we will see changes in future. I have no clue whether portion sizes will get bigger or smaller, both seem likely.

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  2. I cannot believe it! My wishes come true! Mr. Three-Cookies is back! Wow! Your comeback post will really make my weekend. I will drink to your health tonight (a glass of shochu on the rocks with a very sincere "skål!"). Welcome back and congratulations for this excellent comeback post. I hope you will never decide to hibernate again because we all missed you a lot. The portion info has really shocked me and now I feel how much I missed your shocking and/or amusing food news.
    I'm jumping to Ping's blog to see the details because the cake looks and sounds extraordinary!
    PS I still cannot believe it!

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    1. Thank you for those kind words. I will most definitely have a drink to your good health too. Na zdrowie:)

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  3. I love the color of the passion fruit sauce against the white chocolate cheesecake!

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    1. And it probably tastes at least as good as it looks!

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  4. Welcome back! It has been a long time and we were wondering where you were! :D

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  5. Welcome back! I've missed you and your posts! I enjoyed the bars you shared over at Ping's blog...and I look forward to reading your blog more regularly once again :)

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  6. Welcome back! Sissi and I were talking how much we missed you not a long ago. ;)

    I'll check your guest post in a minute, but before that I want to say I'm shocked that supersize french fries is 610 calories. I haven't eaten that size for many many years, but once in my life I could finish that. Boy I'm glad I was young that time. I definitely shouldn't can can't eat that calories just for french fries... I still remember when I first saw American's size. Smaller size here is Large size in Japan. I couldn't believe a huge tank of soda and french fries that looks like a main dish!

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    1. Thank you.
      I had some reaction when I saw American serving sizes. In a restaurant I saw someone eating steak that was bigger than the plate, and he was half way through when I left:) I asked for kid size meal and that was just perfect.

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  7. Soooo glad tos see you're back, Mr Three Cookies. Missed your blog. Interesting reading, as usual, about portion sizes. I guess portions have to be large if they basically rubbish, and I find people often just stuff themselves - shove it all in until there's no room left, and throw the rest away. Such a waste.
    Veronica

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    1. Thank you Veronica, I must make sure I don't disappear again.
      I guess if theres more on the plate we eat more, and our appetite gets bigger over time. Its a vicious cycle

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  8. Welcome back! We missed your interesting posts and herring recipes :)

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  9. The mango chutney bar looks fabulous!
    Welcome back!

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