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| McDonald's India 2014 Piri Piri Spice Mix |
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| For The Shake Of Love - Shake Shake Fries are back! |
Purchased - June 2014 - Mumbai, India
Consumed - 5 July 2014 - Singapore, NEX Mall
Price - Sent for review from McDonald's India. Regular Price 15INR = $0.25USD
Calories - ~15kcal
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| McDonald's India shaker bag looks pretty retro |
I mentioned in a couple reviews in June that my wife had to make an emergency trip back up to Korea for pretty much the month. Although I did review a few items when she was away I was home bored most evenings, where I spent more time than I would like to admit browsing different McDonald's official websites, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. Whenever I saw a country offering a new promotional sauce or shaker, I would send them a quick message asking if they would send one for me to review. I messaged McDonald's Arabia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Philippines and a few others regarding their new shakers, and only team to ever give me a response was McDonald's India. They were gracious enough to send me 5 Peri Peri Spice Mix packets to review! Even though they arrived about 2 weeks ago, patiently I waited for my wife to return so we could try one together. I was excited to give it a try since this is the first time I've had McDonald's from India since 2008 when I made my first and only visit to the country. Although this was long before the blog days I still have a couple of photos from my old Facebook album of the
McVeggie Burger with Cheese I had. Unfortunately I have no recollection of what it was like, or how much it cost.
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| McVeggie Burger with Cheese - McDonald's India - 2008 |
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| Post-bite McVeggie |
As mentioned in the
Red Peri Scorcher review from a Peri Peri burger from Singapore in May 2013, Peri Peri sauce/seasoning is one of my favourite flavours. My wife and I had Peri Peri Chicken all over Tanzania and South Africa on our honeymoon last year, and although it isn't a common flavour here in Singapore, we are still a frequent customer of
Nando's whenever we go up to
Malaysia. So I was quite interested in seeing the Indian take on one of my favourite flavours.
My first look at the Ingredient list was a very positive sign, since it was short, and essential (for being Peri Peri) and natural ingredients.
Shakers most Asian countries have MSG as their primary ingredient, and are fully of
artificial flavours and fillers. Although salt remained the primary ingredient in these, they were noticeably spicier than ANY other shaker I've had, including so-called "Hot" or "Spicy" shakers. I'll admit, that my when I had my first bite, it caught me off-guard since I was expecting a tangy Peri Peri flavour, but after I gave it a couple seconds thought, I quickly knew this was the best shaker I've ever had. The inclusion of tamarind immediately brought me back to the Peri Peri chicken I had my first night in Tanzania, as it added a needed sour flavour to the seasoning.
One other thing I notice about these shakers, and I'm not sure if this was because it was from India, or because it was the first shaker I've had from outside Asia, but the lack of uniformity, and the large pieces of spice that the power was made from. All the shakers I've had in Asia are fine and powder like but this had large flakes which allowed it to coat the fries much easier than others. If you look at the photo above, you'll see the colour difference between the seasoned, and a standard fry.
As mentioned before, McDonald's India sent me 5 packets, and apart from the one I ate for this review, I've already traded one to Marvo at The Impulsive Buy, which means I currently have 3 left. When I asked my wife if she had any ideas for the remaining packets, she looked at me like I was crazy, and said "why would we do anything buy eat them, they were yum". Guess that's enough validation right there...
Rating - 5/5
(But in all honesty, I am up for trading. If you are in a country that has a promo shaker, sauce or anything that would survive the trip and would like to swap for one of my remaining packets, shoot me an email before my wife eats them all)
When I visited Indian McDonald's back in 2008, I don't remember there being any promotional items at the time. I remember the
Maharaja Mac standing out as being different, but I tried the McVeggie since it was the most unique thing on the menu to this Canadian. Since then, McDonald's India have released a whole line of burgers I'd love to be able to try, hopefully I'll be back in India soon. I did enjoy the
McAloo Tikki when it appeared in Singapore last year, and that is a regular menu item in India. If the rest are as good as the shakers, I know I'll enjoy them.
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| Royale Line from June 2014 |
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| Masala Grilled Veg |
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| McEgg |
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| McSpicy Paneer |
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