You Can Now Make (Less Satisfying) Versions of Chain Favorites at Home

Chains are telling fans how to recreate their dishes at home

For as long as chain restaurants have existed, people have been trying to recreate their most famous dishes at home. But now, in a time when people can no longer dine out at restaurants, chains are freely giving away their recipes — among them, as Vice’s Bettina Makalintal reports, McDonald’s recipe for the sausage-and-egg McMuffin, chocolate chip cookie recipes from Pret A Manger and DoubleTree by Hilton, Disney’s recipe for its amusement parks’ churro bites, Wagamama’s katsu curry recipe unveiled on a cooking channel, and even Waffle House with (now sold-out) take-home bags of its signature waffle mix.

It’s a way to give fans a taste of their favorite foods at home (and, sure, a way to generate goodwill and engagement that might lead to more dollars for businesses that are seeing declining sales). But, as Makalintal writes, there’s no way to recreate the experience and appeal of dining out: “a churro made at home will never beat the experience of eating a churro after a long day at Disneyland, and a waffle made with Waffle House mix in your own kitchen still won’t feel as satisfying as one eaten in the middle of the night at a cozy diner.” Those experiences will hopefully still be waiting out there for the public after the pandemic has ended.

And in other news…

• Some pork and beef producers are asking the federal government to purchase large amounts of meat to help an industry that has seen multiple plant closures. [CNN]
• As McDonald’s continues to see falling sales during the pandemic, tension has reemerged between corporate and franchisees, with franchisees voicing disappointment over what they see as a lack of support from McDonald’s. [Restaurant Business]
• A tribute to the cook Jesus Roman Melendez, the “backbone” of Jean Georges and Nougatine, who died of COVID-19 on April 1. [Grub Street]

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