Red Chili Shakers - The Netherlands - July 2015

McDonald's Holland Red Chili Shakers 2015

Purchased in The Netherlands, May 2015

Consumed in Singapore, July 2015

Price - Unknown

Calories - Unknown

A long time reader James, from The Netherlands, graciously sent these, and another soon-to-be-reviewed flavour in all the way from The Netherlands for me to try.  The Netherlands is one of those few countries, that I've visited prior to the blog, and I never tried anything at McDonald's!  Mexico and many of the Caribbean Islands are other good examples I'm ashamed to have missed.  I gave these Chilli Shakes a try right before I headed to Bangkok over a month ago, illness has delayed this review - but better late than never!

Long time readers will know that most of the shakers I've reviewed have been from Asia, as this is where they are usually served, but I have had a few from other regions, and they are hit or miss.  Sometimes they taste like they use high-quality ingredients, and some have been the worst-of-the-worst. Thankfully, when I tore open the package for this shaker, a heavy, natural, aroma of Cumin filled my nose.  Cumin isn't typically a spice I'd find in Asian shakers, so it was off to a good start. The other main ingredients were Chilli (another +), and surprisingly Sichuan pepper! Not sure if that's a common seasoning in The Netherlands, but the tongue-numbing pepper is one of my favourites.

McDonald's Netherlands Red Chilli Shakers

Pouring out the seasoning I could see that it was a fine powder - usually a good sign with shakers, as the chunkier ones are often overly salty and loaded with MSG.  When added to the fry's they coated them extremely well, giving them a nice dark brown colour (even if my over-exposed photos above don't show them that well).  My first taste I felt that it might have been a bit too heavy with the cumin, but after having a few more fries, the flavour certainly grew on me, and I tasted the chilli more with every bite, although I didn't get any of the tongue-numbing metallic flavour from the Sichuan pepper.  The biggest disappointment would have had to have been the fries.  They were served reasonably hot, but there was something about this shaker that reminded me of curly fries that I used to have back home in Canada as a kid.  Curly fries (which strangely enough have just been re-introduced here in Singapore, but I won't be reviewing them again) have that extra crispiness that this flavour combination needed.  The standard fry was just a bit too soft for it.

Rating - 4/5