Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed:
commercial resale and with a strong priority placed on "speed
of service" versus other relevant factors involved in culinary science.
Fast food was originally created as a commercial strategy to accommodate the
larger numbers of busy commuters, travelers and wage workers who often did not
have the time to sit down at a public house or diner and wait for their meal.
By making speed of service the priority, this ensured that customers with
strictly limited time (a commuter stopping to procure dinner to bring home to
their family, for example, or an hourly laborer on a short lunch break) were
not inconvenienced by waiting for their food to be cooked on-the-spot (as is
expected from a traditional "sit down" restaurant). For those with no
time to spare, fast food became a multibillion-dollar industry.
The fastest form of "fast food"
consists of pre-cooked meals kept in readiness for a customer's arrival (Boston
Market rotisserie chicken, Little Caesars pizza, etc.), with waiting time
reduced to mere seconds. Other fast food outlets, primarily the hamburger
outlets (McDonald's, Burger King, etc.) use mass-produced pre-prepared
ingredients (bagged buns & condiments, frozen beef patties,
prewashed/sliced vegetables, etc.) but take great pains to point out to the
customer that the "meat and potatoes" (hamburgers and French fries)
are always cooked fresh (or at least relatively recently) and assembled
"to order" (like at a diner).
Although a vast variety of food can be
"cooked fast", "fast food" is a commercial term limited to
food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked
ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for
take-out/take-away.
Fast food restaurants are traditionally distinguished by their ability to serve food via a drive-through. Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants).[citation needed] Franchise operations that are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.
In the cities of Roman antiquity, much of
the urban population living in insulae, multi-story apartment blocks, depended
on food vendors for much of their meal; the Forum itself served as a
marketplace where Romans could purchase baked goods and cured meats. In the
mornings, bread soaked in wine was eaten as a quick snack and cooked vegetables
and stews later in popina, a simple type of eating establishment. In Asia, 12th
century Chinese scarfed down fried dough, soups, and stuffed buns, all of which
still exist as contemporary snack food. Their Baghdadi contemporaries
supplemented home-cooked meals with processed legumes, purchased starches, and
even ready-to-eat meats. During the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban
areas such as London and Paris supported numerous vendors that sold dishes such
as pies, pasties, flans, waffles, wafers, pancakes and cooked meats. As in
Roman cities during antiquity, many of these establishments catered to those
who did not have means to cook their own food, particularly single households.
Unlike richer town dwellers, many often could not afford housing with kitchen
facilities and thus relied on fast food. Travelers such as pilgrims en route to
a holy site were among the customers.
A blue plaque at Oldham's Tommy field
Market marks the origin of the fish and chip shop and fast food industries. As
a cheap fast food served in a wrapper, fish and chips became a stock meal among
the Victorian working classes. By 1910, there were more than 25,000 fish and
chip shops across the UK, and in the 1920s there were more than 35,000 shops.
Harry Rams den’s fast food restaurant chain opened its first fish and chip shop
in Guiseley, West Yorkshire in 1928. On a single day in 1952, the shop served
10,000 portions of fish and chips, earning a place in the Guinness Book of
Records.
In 2006, the global fast-food market grew
by 4.8% and reached a value of £102.4 billion and a volume of 80.3 billion
transactions. McDonald's alone, has outlets in 126 countries on 6 continents
and operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide.
One example of McDonald's expansion on a
global scale was its introduction to the Russian market. In order for the
American business to succeed it would have to be accepted and integrated into
the daily lives of natives in Moscow. Thus, the restaurant was strategically
implemented so that its offerings would align with the distinct and established
eating habits, also known as the customs around food, eating and cooking, of
Muscovites. One significant characteristic of Russian food culture is the
emphasis on knowing about the locality of goods that are consumed. Essentially,
in order to successfully launch this American brand in a foreign country,
McDonald's interpreted the local interests of consumers in Moscow by promoting
the origins of the produce used in the restaurant. On January 31, 1990
McDonald's opened a restaurant in Moscow and broke opening-day records for
customers served. The Moscow restaurant is the busiest in the world.
The largest McDonald's in the world, with
25,000 feet of play tubes, an arcade and play center, is located in Orlando,
Florida, United States
There are numerous other fast food
restaurants located all over the world. Burger King has more than 11,100
restaurants in more than 65 countries. KFC is located in 25 countries. Subway is
one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with approximately 39,129
restaurants in 90 countries as of May 2009, the first non-US location opening in
December 1984 in Bahrain. Wienerwald has spread from Germany into Asia and
Africa. Pizza Hut is located in 97 countries, with 100 locations in China. Taco
Bell has 278 restaurants located in 14 countries besides the United States.
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