YOUR WEEKEND

The food that incites passion in people is something that has always fascinated me. Folk will proudly show o their hot sauce collections and talk about them ad infinitum , but mustards don’t get the same reverence. Hordes will drive to the other side of town and queue for noodles – particularly ramen – but fried rice doesn’t merit travel for most.

This week, Steve Kilgallon drills down into this country’s relationship with KFC to try and nd out what the colonel’s secret sauce is. The propensity for Kentucky does seem quite particular to New Zealand, from what I’ve seen.

In Dubai where I lived for a long time, for instance, you’ll get long drive-thru queues at Starbucks – yes, drive-thru co ee is a big thing there I, personally, hate Starbucks coffee. There are always lines at fresh juice joints shawarma and falafel shops, manakeesh stores and biryani holes in the wall oh and there are consistent crowds at Jollibee and Albaik, which are also fried chicken. But KFC? Doesn’t really seem to be a thing.

And, you know what? Despite the various health warnings throughout Steve’s story and the fact I haven’t eaten KFC for probably 20 years, I have found the sides of my cheeks actively salivating while thinking about fried chicken so much this week, the “id” part of my brain clearly jonesing for the fat/sugar/salt hit.