I love a good dose of nostalgia. I have many great memories from throughout my life and I although I don’t dwell on the past, I do tend to visit there often. For example, when the Cobra Kai series came out, and with a cast of the original Karate Kid actors, I was delighted and excited because it brought back all the feel good emotions of the 1980’s when I watched those movies for the first time. But nostalgia is not only limited to movies and shows. No, no, no. It can also apply to one’s food…
Before moving on to the actual topic of today’s post, I need to point out that everything I’m about to say is strictly my opinion. This should in no way reflect your own view on the restaurant chain I’m about to bring. Which is, McDonald’s… I grew up in an era where McDonald’s;d’s restaurants were the place to go. Fast, cheap and delicious fast food that had a varied menu that had a little something for everyone. For me, that little something was a burger called the Arch Deluxe.
The Arch Deluxe was a burger offered on McDonald’s Canadian menu sometime in the mid-1990’s and was discontinued after the turn of the millennium. It featured a quarter pounder patty but what made it so spectacular was the “secret” Arch sauce, which I found out years later was just dijon mustard and mayonnaise. But still, it had a flavour I just couldn’t get enough of, and also featured a peppered round bacon slice. What wasn’t to love about it?
Considering it came out around the time I graduated high school and I had my own car, it wasn’t unusual for me and some friends to make our way to the nearest McDonald’s to indulge. And since this was years before my carb-counting, I would easily eat one along with a 20-pack of McNuggets (yes, you read that right) as an evening snack. Ah, to have the metabolism of a 20-year old again… But I digress. Given its size and content, it boasted a massive protein hit, which was great for the young man training handily in the martial arts.
I was sincerely bummed out when it was discontinued (especially since I was working at a McDonald’s at the time and had easy access to them). So, imagine my surprise a little over a month ago when McDonald’s launched a new burger called “the Big Arch.” I was overjoyed and looking forward to a hit of culinary nostalgia, until I researched this burger and got slapped in the face with a severe dose of reality. Once again, this is not a slight against McDonald’s or this new burger and you should definitely make your informed decision on whether you try it or not. Because the reality is that I didn’t try it. I didn’t get to taste it. And here’s why…
This big bastard… I mean, burger, boast two quarter pounder patties instead of one. It’s got three slices of cheese as well as other ingredients that raise the carb and caloric count significantly. Sitting at 57 grams of carbohydrates, it likely wouldn’t be so bad, in and of itself. The problem comes in the form of 1030 calories. That’s just a bit under half of a person’s caloric intake for the day. Pair that with the fact the burger contains 88% of one’s daily fat intake and 86% of one’s sodium intake, there was no human way I could eat this burger.
I would imagine that for a non-0Diabetic who isn’t on Ozempic and makes a combo out of this bad boy will easily cross the halfway mark for their daily caloric intake with just one meal. And the nail in the coffin is that I don’t think the arch sauce used on this burger is the same one as the original Arch Deluxe, which is hugely disappointing, since it was one of the standout ingredients of the original. The result is that despite having hit the menu over a m,both ago, my most recent visit saw me order my piddly Junior Chicken sandwich, which still sits at 36 grams of carbs despite only having 380 calories.
It goes without saying that Diabetes sucks big time and prevents a lot of things in my life. But somehow I think that even if I wasn’t Diabetic, I would a diffuse time in justifying eating a burger that would basically punch both my kidneys in the nuts with the amount of salt. All in all, when it comes to the Big Arch, I’ll have to enjoy my pinch of nostalgia through someone else’s eyes. Such is life…☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 