DAILY DIRT: Gimme a Cottage Cheese and Radish McMuffin … and some fries, please

Daily Dirt for Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024

If spicy food is a no-no, beware of the Maestro Spicy Santiago burger … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,107 of The Daily Dirt.

1. A few days ago, we chronicled some of the worst decisions McDonald’s had ever made with new items the fast-food giant had released over the years.  

So to be fair — and that’s what we’re all about at The Daily Dirt — today we are tipping our hat to the Golden Arches for some of its unknown success stories. These are menu items that are tremendously popular in countries outside the U.S.

In no particular order:

• Cottage Cheese and Radish McMuffin: You can only get this in Poland. The sandwich features a McMuffin wheat bun, radish, arugula, cottage cheese, spices and butter.
• Salad Burger: Only in New Zealand, thankfully. In the mood for the burger experience without the beef? Residents of New Zealand can order themselves one of these at their local Mickey D’s. As the name implies, the Salad Burger is essentially a hamburger minus the meat. So, what’s between those sesame seed buns? Two tomato slices, onions, shredded lettuce, a slice of cheese, two pickles and a generous portion of peppery McChicken sauce.
• Bubur Ayam McD: WHen in Indonesia, you can check out this item. This porridge-based entry offers chicken strips, spring onions, sliced ginger, diced chilies and fried shallots — all served in this porridge. Wow, just give me an Egg McMuffin, please.
• Bacon Roll: The citizenry in the United Kingdom and Ireland swear by this one. It consists of nothing more than back bacon served on a plain roll with either ketchup or brown sauce.
• McExtreme Pulled Pork: When in Span, you may want one of these. Consisting of a beef patty, pulled pork, bacon and crispy fried onions smothered in smoked cheese, BBQ sauce, and smoked mayonnaise, this sandwich is not for the faint of heart (or stomach).
• Pizza McPuff: Another innovative menu item out of McDonald’s operations in India, the Pizza McPuff boasts an eclectic mix of ingredients like green peas, carrots, beans, capsicum, onions and plenty of spices paired with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. All that is housed in a rectangular dough pocket. 
• Shrimp Filet-O:Shrimp and fast food may sound like strange bedfellows to many Westerners, but this has been a staple of Japanese Mickey D’s menus for close to a decade. The sandwich is made up of a panko-crusted shrimp patty paired with Thousand Island sauce and lettuce.
• McVegan: A permanent menu fixture in both Finland and Sweden, the the McVegan was first introduced in 2017. Thanks to a seasoned soy burger and egg-free mayonnaise in addition to lettuce, ketchup, mustard, pickles and tomatoes, local customers can enjoy the authentic taste of a McDonald’s burger without all the animal by-products. It’s also available with gluten-free bread.
• Big Brekkie Burger: Why settle for one breakfast when you can have virtually all of them between two buns? Enter this big fella, served at McDonald’s locations in Australia. This breakfast burger could easily work as lunch or dinner since it includes bacon, a freshly cracked free-range egg, cheese, a crisp hash brown, barbecue sauce and either a 100 percent Aussie or New Zealand beef patty.
• Maestro Spicy Santiago:The small European nation of Belgium is hardly synonymous with spicy food, but that’s exactly what local McDonald’s restaurants have on the menu with the Maestro Spicy Santiago. This burger boasts two beef patties, bacon, melted cheddar cheese, nachos, jalapeños and two sauces: a creamy guacamole mayonnaise and a spicy jalapeño cheese sauce.
• Double Beef Burger: This is boffo box office in China. The double beef burger starts out with two 100 percent beef patties before adding salt, pepper, mustard sauce — and two German Thuringian sausages.

2. Did you know (Part 179)

• That before long, California will likely have a larger population than Canada. Canada has a population of 39.8 million. California currently sits at 39 million.
• That Spicy Chicken McNuggets are back at most McDonald’s.
• That Hardee’s is bringing back its acclaimed Cinnamon-and-Raisin Biscuit with Cherrywood-smoked Candy Bacon. It is scheduled to be available this week and offered through Jan. 7, or until supplies are gone.
• That Arby’s recently brought back its Deep Fried Turkey Gobbler and Deep Fried Turkey Club sandwiches. I am personally over the top about the return of those club sandwiches.
• That Buffalo Wild Wings has added a pair of limited-time sauce mixes: Cajun and Maple Chipotle.
• That Long John Silver’s has brought back its Norway Lobster Bites.

3. Here’s this week’s Daily Dirt happy birthday wishes to some of our best-known celebrities:

• Singer Bonnie Raitt will be 75 on Friday. The lady has earned 13 Grammys and is ranked No. 50 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 greatest singers of all time.
• Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs will be 55 on Saturday. Maybe the other inmates will throw him a party.
• Comedian Tracy Morgan turns 56 on Sunday. He was at his best as part of the old “Saturday Night Live” contingent.
• Actress Demi Moore will be 62 come Monday. Her best movie? How about “Ghost?”

• Actor Leonardo DiCaprio turns 50, also on Monday. His middle name is Wilhelm, for those who night be interested.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — That Big Brekkie Burger sounds like it could be a big hit in the states. In fact, so do the Shrimp Filet-O and Bacon Roll.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He writes more about McDonald’s than Ronald.