I’ve railed, in this space, against mega menu items designed to tempt people to either burn out their taste buds or make themselves sick trying to finish them in under an hour – all to win a dumb t-shirt. But my eyes have been opened to a new, valid dimension of the mega menu item phenomenon…
A centre cut from the 5 ft. / 10 lb. Burrito… Great for parties!
I was reading a post elsewhere about a Taco truck in L.A., Tacos El Venados, that offers a huge 10 lb. / 4.5 kilo Burrito, when the notion struck me.There IS, after all, a viable reason for these monster menu items to exist! And it’s a good one.
The Burrito…
It’s mainly a promotional stunt, I’m sure, but it has captured the attention of a number of major food bloggers who specialize in the Tex-Mex niche. The thing appears to be at least 5 ft. / nearly 2 metres long and is stuffed with just about everything you can think of: Carne Asada, and Al Pastor, Suadero (Beef Brisket), Tripas (Tripe), Chorizo, Cabeza (Beef Cheek), Lengua (Beef Tongue), pollo, Buche (Pork Stomach), and Cueritos (Pork Skin), along with Rice, Beans, the usual Veggies and a generous drizzle of sour cream on top. It must be more than the advertised 10 lb., from the looks of it..
Where do you get a Flour Tortilla big enough to make this monster Burrito? You don’t. You line up half a dozen regular 12 in. / 30 cm Tortillas overlapping them a couple of inches / 5 cm so the finished roll stays together.
No, nobody could convince me that this Burrito could ever be consumed in under an hour, even with several people munching away on it. But, then, Tacos El Venados doesn’t have a contest associated with it. The idea is, you get it for parties and slice it up into manageable portions to suit your guests. Great for kids birthdays, I think!
The Burger…
I also saw, recently, a post about a 10 lb. / 4.5 kg Burger served up as a challenge by The Catch in Anaheim, in Greater L.A. It’s composed of: a 5 lb. / 2 kg Beef Patty, 3 whole Onions, 4 Tomatoes, 5 large Pickles, plenty of Cheese and Dressing, and a heap of Lettuce on a 12 in. / 30 cm Bun. But that’s not all. The main Burger is ‘garnished’ with a Pickle and Mini Slider and a whole fryer basket full of Fries on the side.
Professional Competitive Eater Raina Huang just before she dug into the OMG Burger.
Even she couldn’t finish it, period, let alone in under an hour…
Note to those who would take up the eat-it-in-under-an-hour challenge: The Garnish and Fries are optional for you. No wonder they named it ‘The OMG’. Contests aside, this mega-Burger presents another great opportunity when feeding a crowd. Imagine it as a birthday cake, with a candle on top!
~ Maggie J.