“For all those like us guilty of stuffing a greasy handful of Walkers into a sandwich from time to time, the idea of making a taco shell out of a crisp is a no-brainer. ”
New fast food innovations tend to be pretty hit and miss.
McDonald's consistently chips into the bunker with their Great Tastes of America, Quick in Belgium misplaced the lightsaber when they created a burger with a black bun, and Pizza Hut properly stuffed up when they created the arid moisture-sucking hot dog stuffed crust. Don't even get us started about what those crazy fuckers in the Middle East have been concocting.
But there are occasions when we have to tip our cap to those masters of the big-box deep-fried reconstituted universe. Replacing the bun with bits of chicken was a masterstroke for KFC's Double Down, the consumption of which brings on a satisfied protein-laden lethargy like no other. And there is also this little touch of food alchemy from Taco Bell, the Doritos Locos Tacos.
Let's have a look at some facts:
- most successful fast food product launch ever
- over 325 million sold
- responsible for 15000 new jobs(!)
- potential for a further 2000 new Taco Bells to open in the next ten years
- they don't give a shit about outside the US
Source - The Daily Beast
For all those like us guilty of stuffing a greasy handful of Walkers into a sandwich from time to time, the idea of making a taco shell out of a crisp is a no-brainer. As we walked from our friend's apartment in Downtown L.A. to the Taco Bell in the Fashion District, the irony of us passing by literally dozens of authentic Mexican food carts selling great looking food to get to our fast food destination wasn't lost on us, but we didn't fucking care.
The nacho cheese Doritos Locos incorporates all the standards of their classic seasoned beef taco, but with a shell whose surface area is completely covered in that familiar bright orangey-red dusting. The flavour of the taco is less intense than what you find on a chip, but the dense cheesiness is still there and it really livens up the chilli-spiced "beef".
Simply put, it's a fucking brilliant idea, and a pair of them had all of us tweaking from the delicious additives and E numbers. Like Jason Statham mainlining nasal spray.
It's so inpired that punters have been going loco for them, and it's being touted as the single reason for Taco Bell's chunky sales turnaround. And boy are they capitalising on it, releasing a Cool Ranch version last week, the delay in delivery of which sparked a right mard from customers on the Bell's Facebook page.
But shit, at least America has them. Pity us in the UK, where there are only two Taco Bells, there's a bit of Shergar in the beef, and not a fucking sniff of the Doritos taco shells coming over any time soon. So for now we'll have to make do with stuffing the innards of a Sausage and Egg McMuffin between two Crunchwrap Supremes.
We call that a Brunchwrap McPreme®. ✪
- Rob.