Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

15 October 2010

Wéi seet een “boneless pork patty” op Lëtzebuergesch?

Filed under: consumer,luxembourg — Will @ 19:54

How do you say “McRib” in Luxembourgish?

Last weekend, Anita spied the McRib on a McDonald’s menu in Ingeldorf, Luxembourg.

“That’s interesting,” she said, “I remember reading that the McRib isn’t widely available in the US.”

“Me too,” I said, “But maybe I’m just thinking of that Simpsons episode.” And so the situation passed into our long list of Notable Oddities Here in Europe.

Serendipity had other plans, however. She waved her hands and lo, on Monday, the Wall Street Journal published an article on American fans of the McRib who track its ephemeral appearance across the nation. (It’s a pretty good read, as these things go.)

There are blog posts and fan sites devoted to the McRib, of course. (And some of them will burn your eyeballs, of course.) And this is 2010, so there’s a social network which maintains a McRib Locator. There’s quite a bit of information available on the McRib, easily accessed via google. I’m not sure how to feel about that.

Still, once Anita sent me the article, I knew that I had to return to Ingeldorf. For you, dear readers, I would find and eat a McRib.

Ingeldorf lies in a narrow part of the valley of the Sauer river, so the main commercial road, the railroad and the pedestrian paths run close together and in parallel. It’s not hard to find the McDonalds.

Pay no attention to the nutritional information.

Will, you have a training ride today. How can you miss it to be with a sandwich?

One angle is not enough.

German is such a beautiful language.

Like Krusty says, “I don’t mind the taste.”

That’s it for the Simpsons quotes. I find it hard to believe that there’s no transcript on the internet. My google-fu has failed me.

See? It really is made of pork. Says so right on the box!

I said, No looking at the nutritional information!

My view as I ate the McRib. On the left, the hills along the valley of the Sauer (or Sûre, if you’re French). On the right, the entrance to the Playland.

I’d hoped to end this post by promoting our B&B: “Stay with us and take an excursion to the only McDonalds that reliably offers McRib sandwiches!” But those of you in the US need only wait a few weeks before you have your own geographically unlimited source of McRibs. Yet — next spring, when you have that yearning for bumpy meat patties again, you’ll have to come here!

Did I write a mediocre Friday post?
That could be the case.

Am I relying on the inherently fascinating existence of the McRib to conceal my indolence?
It certainly looks that way.

Hey, folks, sometimes you write a post with the cliches you borrow, rather than the clever ideas you might want or wish to have at a later time.

7 Comments

  1. Mediocre?! Heck no. I loved this post. Especially the bite by bite view and the ignore the nutrition label warning. Except now I really really want a McRib. Curse you Will!

    Comment by Katherine — 15 October 2010 @ 22:14

  2. You missed the money shot, taking off the bun to picture the pork pressed to look like a rack of ribs…

    How’d that training ride go?

    Comment by Dave — 15 October 2010 @ 23:21

  3. I’m always fascinated by the familiar and the foreign when you see something so US-iconic in a non-American setting. The packaging is familiar red and yellow with the “I’m lovin’ it” tagline but look at those chairs! Mickey D’s hasn’t had unbolted down seats in forever!

    Comment by Jaime — 16 October 2010 @ 6:26

  4. My car dealer is right across the street. I was supposed to be there this morning, but when Serendipity waved her hands Chez Beet, she managed to make the car appointment at the wrong dealer.

    I ate at a Quik the other day, just to see how that goes, since my kids’ French friends say it is as good as McDonald’s. Let me just say, I know McDonald’s . . . I eat at McDonald’s . . . Quik, Senator, is NOT McDonald’s.

    And it’s not worth going back again to document it even for the blog.

    Comment by The Expatresse — 18 October 2010 @ 10:20

  5. What sells a sandwich better than labeling it “best pig flesh”? :)

    Comment by Laurie — 20 October 2010 @ 19:45

  6. An update to your earlier post, in case the tranlation from German is not clear… :)

    http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/blogs/2011/lifestyle/whats-hiding-under-the-mcrib-sauce/?cmpid=FCST_hero_hot

    Comment by Laurie. — 1 November 2011 @ 1:45

  7. Another key update this post revealing two key items:

    1) It appears the McRib is only introduced when pork prices are low, enabling McD’s to make a profit.
    2) The McRib was invented by a Luxembourger.

    http://www.theawl.com/2011/11/a-conspiracy-of-hogs-the-mcrib-as-arbitrage

    hattip: The Incidental Economist

    Comment by Dave — 10 November 2011 @ 22:34

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