'Asiago … is that some kind of cheese?" the man sitting at the table behind me at Wendy's was asking.
I had noticed the couple, both probably in their 60s, at the counter, because all three of us had ordered Wendy's new Asiago Ranch Chicken Club sandwich. So when I heard them discussing it, I couldn't resist turning around and asking their opinion.
"Well, it all tasted really good, but I couldn't tell if there was any difference with that cheese. I mostly tasted bacon," the man replied.
I had to agree. Although Asiago (pronounced ah-see-AH-go) cheese is the upscale, trendy ingredient that's supposed to have star billing in this sandwich, it's upstaged by the bacon. The secondary flavor is ranch dressing. Not that bacon or ranch dressing are bad things.
The sandwich, as a whole, tastes great, and with the lettuce and tomato, very much like the club sandwich that it is. The chicken is tender and plump, and real breast meat instead of a pre-fab patty. The homestyle and spicy versions are 660 calories; you can save 100 calories by getting the grilled chicken version.
But as far as the Asiago goes, I had to tear off part of the cheese slice and eat it separately in order to actually taste it. Asiago is an Italian cow's milk cheese, with a flavor that's sort of nutty, a bit like provolone but not as strong as Parmesan. As the cheese has a protected designation of origin, the only "official" Asiago is produced in the near the town of Asiago in Italy. However, members of Wendy's PR team told me that Wendy's Asiago is American-produced.
You can tell when a somewhat exotic ingredient has gone mainstream when it shows up on fast food menus. I suspect that 10 years ago, the most exotic cheese you could get on a fast-food sandwich was Swiss. Today, America's fast food giants are stretching their culinary wings to come up with menu items in keeping with fine-dining restaurants and TV cooking shows.
Instead of plain old button mushrooms, Carl's Jr. uses portobellos on its burger. Wendy's fries are now sprinkled with sea salt. Burger King's BK Stuffed Steakhouse burger is topped with a poblano sauce. And all the bacon seems to be "applewood smoked."
Another case in point is the chipotle chile, which has been a hot trend, in more ways than one. This smoked jalapeno is featured in McDonald's new Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon Burger. And with the many TV promotional ads, most people are finally learning how to pronounce it correctly ("che POHT lay," not "che POLE tee").
I bought one of the McDonald's mega-burgers out of curiosity (well, actually because I was going to write this column). The beef was juicy, the overall sandwich was very flavorful and satisfying. But I tasted mostly bacon and regular barbecue sauce. I had a hard time detecting even a hint of a chili kick. Once again, the ingredient with the most cachet was overpowered by bacon.
"Angus" is another much-hyped term. Angus is actually a breed of cattle, not a USDA grade of beef. In fact, black Angus is the most popular beef breed of cattle in the United States.
And it's not the same thing as Certified Angus Beef (CAB), which is a brand name for beef from the Angus breed that meets quality requirements of marbling, maturity, appearance and tenderness, according to Marty Berlin, CAB's representative for the Western region. In order to serve Certified Angus Beef, a restaurant enters into a licensing agreement, and the restaurant's purchases and sales of beef are monitored to ensure that the customer is actually getting Certified Angus Beef.
It seems to me that a lot of restaurants are capitalizing on the Certified Angus Beef reputation by advertising that they serve "Angus" beef. I'm not saying it's not great-tasting beef, but it doesn't go through the standards required for the Certified Angus Beef brand.
I have to wonder what the next trendy fast food ingredient will be. Pomegranates seem to be everywhere these days; how about pomegranate ketchup? Wasabi mustard? Pesto? Tapenade?
Whatever it is, I won't be surprised if it still ends up tasting like bacon.
e-mail: vphillips@desnews.com