I don’t care about football and, whenever I can (almost always can), I avoid pre-made fast-food sandwiches. I suspect that’s why I was chosen to write about McDonald’s selection of themed hamburgers for the World Cup in Qatar.
The mission was more complex than going to any bodega and evaluating the food. I needed to try eight different sandwiches, and only one of them is available daily: the McBrasil.
The other seven countries appear only one day a week, always in this order from Monday to Sunday: Qatar, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina and the United States.
Unwilling to repeat the self-destruction experiment that resulted in the documentary “Supersize Me: The Clown Diet,” I asked for three weeks so I could work with some junk food break.
Before the physical clash, I decided to study the enemy by describing the sandwiches on the McDonald’s website.
First impression: guys, how expensive! Seriously, do they think it’s reasonable to pay R$38.90 for delivery for a “méqui”? The price is better than the cheeseburger at Z Deli (R$36), Buzina (R$28) and Chimi Parrilla (R$36), three of the best sandwiches in São Paulo.
From there to a conceptual analysis of the football menu. What is the criterion, in addition to participating in the 2022 World Cup (thus without McItália), for choosing nations?
If the ruler is gastronomy, you could do some crazy things with Japan (something inspired by katsu sando, with breaded pork, perhaps?) or Portugal (cod or alheira?). If it is the performance in the previous Cups, Mexico and the United States do not meet the minimum condition: having won at least one World Cup. Qatar does not count, it is the host country.
By the way, it doesn’t make much sense to create a specific recipe for the United States, given that McDonald’s is the most American thing in the Universe. Curious, but not surprising, that McEUA is the best of themed sandwiches – we’ll get to that part soon.
Cup festival recipes use few elements foreign to the everyday McDonald’s pantry. The personality of each sandwich is defined, in general, by the sauce —something based on mayonnaise, with the exception of McEUA (barbecue) and McAlemanha (mustard).
At McBrasil, however, the identity element is a block of breaded and fried cheese. A massive load of fat, which does not deliver flavor in the same dose.
The brasuca sandwich has an incredible 1,156 kcal. The rest are between 629 kcal (Mexico) and 989 kcal (Spain and Qatar).
The McArgentina, ordered on the same Saturday as the Brazilian sandwich, does a little better. Without the fried mozzarella stick, the bacon stands out. The mayonnaise supposedly seasoned with chimichurri brings an interesting herb flavor, which becomes nauseating as the bites follow.
McCatar’s sauce has a similar effect, served on Mondays and seasoned with mint to create a vaguely Arabic sensory impression. The crispy onion pleases, but the set, with a solitary tomato, is not very funny.
At McFrança, on Wednesdays, the tactic is to attack with a pair of cheeses: Emmenthal-flavored sauce and brie-flavored processed cheese. The result is close to a Polenguinho, which maybe many people like (especially in the company of bacon and fried onions).
Every Friday’s McSpain has, as an “olé!” factor, a slice of copa —did you get the point?—smoked. Not enough to me to make the taste buds do the Macarena.
McAlemanha, the Thursday offer, also lacks personality. Mustard and black pepper-edged salami are used to address a question that would be easily resolved with any sausage – does the McDonald’s manual forbid hot dogs? The salami, however, is delicious.
In all sandwiches, the high note goes to the bread, which is fresher and more well-made than most so-called artisanal hamburgers.
The downside is the hamburger itself, which is the core of the chain’s business. Meat bland and, for food safety reasons, cooked until gray. The more “fat” the burger, the worse. For that reason, I’ve always preferred chicken sandwiches.
There are two selections with chicken in the Ronald McDonald Cup: Mexico and the United States. The meat is a piece of official real brisket, without processed goroba nuggets. The same chicken from the Chicken Crispy line – I even ordered one of those sandwiches just to be sure.
In the Mexican option, the jalapeño sauce seems to be the same mint mayonnaise as McCatar, but with a touch of spice.
McEUA combines well-fried chicken with bacon, cheese, barbecue and pickles that add a welcome touch of acidity and freshness. It’s a sandwich that I would order more often and that could be a hit on the regular menu at McDonald’s, outside of themed festivals.
Finally, my ranking of the “Méqui Cup” is this, in descending order: USA champion, followed by Argentina, Germany, Mexico, France and Spain. Tough dispute for the flashlight between Qatar and Brazil, but the canary is last due to the exaggeration of fried cheese.
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
