I recently had a ‘burrito’ at my friend’s place of work. This was a relatively flimsy tortilla wrap with some steak inside topped with a bit of tomatoey sauce and a sprinkling of cheese. It was actually ok but I wouldn’t call it a burrito.
My place of work – anonymous Westminstery place – has burritos on the menu today. It also has fish & chips. One thing my canteen does really well is the Friday fish & chips. All my colleagues have gone downstairs for the weekly Fish Club. They’re all sitting there now eating fat chips, battered fish and mushy peas. They’re wondering whether it would be too too ostentatious to squirt on another sachet of tartare sauce. I, on the other hand, am back at my desk staring mournfully at what passes for a burrito in my place of work.
Look, I’m not stupid. I knew it wouldn’t be a taste sensation. I knew that my tastebuds would probably not be crying out for a repeat visit, especially given that they KNOW that I passed over the fish, chips and mushy peas. But when I first saw what they were calling a burrito I did actually walk away towards the fish queue. Then I remembered the disapproving faces of the scientific burrito research community and turned back and purchased a so-called chicken burrito.
Basically there were 2 bowls of rice with stuff mixed into it. One was vegetarian and one was not. She proceeded to fill a smallish flour tortilla from the chickeny rice bowl. I say ‘fill’ but what I mean is she put a spoonful onto the tortilla and wrapped it. Ok, so it was a bit on the small side – not the plump beauty I call a burrito – and the filling looked uninspiring. One spoonful of a ready mixed rice thingy. Hmmmmm, where were the beans? where was the salsa? Where was the cheese? Where was the guacamole????
I still had to give this thing a chance and took a bite. Ugh. Dry and not much flavour. They’d just made some kind of fried rice concoction with chicken, onion and a bit of chilli. That was pretty much it. Still, at least it was small…
Next time I see fish & chips on the same menu as work burritos, I will chose the fish & chips and Ya Boo & Sucks to the lot of you. I did this for you and it was crap!
Work 'Burrito'
It is tragic that such misconceptions still exist around burritos. This is why LBRI’s role as burrito ambassadors is such an important compliment to our research work. Public perception of burritos has certainly improved in the last decade but we still have a long way to go in order to beat this issue back. It is deeply disappointing that these nefarious practices still exist.
I applaud your commitment to scientific research Dr. Frost-Rathbone, and I hope we can work with these people to really teach them everything a burrito can and should be.