# Aww, fuck it, let's just put everything we have in a bowl **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971 "2006-06-01T02:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/21 "2006-06-01T06:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] You were literally served a “mess”, hence Mess Hall, Mess Kit, etc. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if you’re joking with that or not, but that sense of “mess” is derived from the Old French “_mes_,” which meant simply “serving.” The more common sense with its denotation of untidiness came afterwards – and _may_ have been influenced by the poor presentation found in mess halls. If there’s a connection, it’s t’other way around. Anyway, that KFC offering is a disgusting, repulsive mess, in every sense of the word. Why go with individual bowls? KFC has always been about catering to families. Surely a big ol’ _trough_ makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/22 "2006-06-01T07:11:35Z")
I saw some Williamsburg reenactors explaining the concept of a “mess” once. Yea, you’re right. “Mess”, as in an untidy strew, probably came after the fact of the etymological “mes”. The average person was served a stew and/or other foodstuffs on, or with, bread. It was a very unceremonious pile before them and often times it was eaten with the hands. The mess was associated with the experience and beame finger lickin’ good. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/23 "2006-06-01T07:13:01Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] The mess was associated with the experience and **became** finger lickin’ good. [/QUOTE] [correction] ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/24 "2006-06-01T07:29:20Z")
I have to say, when I saw this commercial, I was a little freaked out by the mention of corn, but I was way elated by the cheese. KFC has never put cheese on anything, it’s the one thing missing from their menu. But when I got some of these bowls, wow! They’re so awesome. I’m eating three right now. That’s why my wife pointed me to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/25 "2006-06-01T07:43:17Z")
How can something be ‘new’ and ‘famous’ at the same time? Sorry, but that really fucking annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/26 "2006-06-01T08:13:23Z")
So what is the exact layering/construction? Potaoes, corn, chicken, gravy, then cheese? Or is gravy the topper? ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/27 "2006-06-01T09:01:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] How can something be ‘new’ and ‘famous’ at the same time? [/QUOTE] An actress with a facelift? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/28 "2006-06-01T10:12:12Z")
Isn’t this just Shepherd’s Pie with cheese on top? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/29 "2006-06-01T10:14:37Z")
When I first saw the ad for it, I thought “Ack! That’s PMS Shame Food! You eat that in a corner of the kitchen that can’t be seen through the window! You don’t \*go out \* and \*order \* it!” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/30 "2006-06-01T10:31:55Z")
I wonder if the KFCs in Saudi Arabia are ‘participating?’ I think I will stop by this afternoon to find out. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/31 "2006-06-01T10:49:06Z")
Another Doper puzzled by the cheese part of the food compendium. Oops, sorry, it’s a “three cheese blend.” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/32 "2006-06-01T11:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] I have to say, when I saw this commercial, I was a little freaked out by the mention of corn, but I was way elated by the cheese. KFC has never put cheese on anything, it’s the one thing missing from their menu. But when I got some of these bowls, wow! They’re so awesome. I’m eating three right now. That’s why my wife pointed me to this thread. [/QUOTE] We’ll just order that extra-large coffin in advance, then . . . ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/33 "2006-06-01T12:28:31Z")
I’m still undecided if I would actually eat one of these things yet. The part I love is that thanks to Supersize Me, McDonalds is having some anorexic mad salad panic going on, while the other fast food resturants seem to be trying to out do each other by upping the maximum fat and calorie limit. Poor Ronald McDonald is standing there saying “Hi, please have some mandarin oranges, and maybe an iced tea.” While the Scary Plastic Burger King is standing a bit farther back yelling "HEY! Fuck that shit, here, have a ginormous melted omlette sandwich, or maybe a double bacon barbeque whopper! YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT! " Now comes the man in white with a cheese covered fried chicken gravy bowl… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/34 "2006-06-01T13:03:20Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] I wonder if the KFCs in Saudi Arabia are ‘participating?’ I think I will stop by this afternoon to find out. [/QUOTE] Nope ☹ They do have some sort of chicken-bits-with-rice-and-spring-onions-in-soy-sauce thing. I went for the bucket. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/35 "2006-06-01T13:21:08Z")
The first time I saw a commercial for these things I thought it was a joke. There’s an SNL parody commercial where they just keep adding more and more shit to a fast food item. I thought the KFC commercial was going to be a joke leading up to a shill for some kind of healthy salad or something. Those bowls make my arteries feel clogged just looking at them. Cheese on gravy? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/36 "2006-06-01T13:30:36Z")
(Asterix, Obelix, and the others react strongly to the awful food they’ve been presented with.) Asterix: Look, no kidding, what is it? Cook: Your Legionaire rations. Corn, cheese, and bacon, all cooked together to save time. Asterix: I think it’s time we had a talk with the cook Obelix: I had the same idea ``` -- "Asterix the Legionary" ``` Just substitute the chicken for the bacon and you’ve got the same thing. I haven’t sen this up our way; I guess they’re test-marketying it. It sounds like a way of saving money on those dishes with separate compartments by throwing things into oner big bowl without compartments. Must save them a penny on every gross. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/37 "2006-06-01T13:36:21Z")
I want to make it clear, this is a perfectly good thread. It is. It involves advertising, marketing, fast-food ethics, the palatability of cheese combined with gravy, nutritional facts, and the general aesthetics of culinary endeavor, with an attempt to locate the fine line between “comfort food” and “godawful mess” (I’m betting that the line, if/when found, will bisect a biscuit). But there’s a problem here. I’m not saying it’s anybody’s _fault_, mind you, but there’s a definite problem here. When I read the title, some long-slumbering but profound thing suddenly stirred within me. I didn’t know what it was, didn’t recognize the long-denied-but-still-longer-harbored beliefs and instincts that were responding to the (apparently) simple clarion imperative offered by what seemed at the time to be a new Paine, if not a Luther or even a Galileo: “_Aww, fuck it, let’s just put everything we have in a bowl_.” Or, as it struck me with the blinding light, swiftness and force of a comet: “ **Aww, fuck it, let’s just put everything we have in a bowl!!!** ” I started slowly at first. Indeed, I was hardly cognizant of my actions until I had filled every bowl in my kitchen cupboard with the contents of my pockets, desk, medicine cabinet and briefcase. I found more, though smaller, bowls in the pantry: these I stuffed with socks, ice cubes, old newspapers and motor oil. Then I felt a twinge of panic: I was out of bowls and had more, much more, to put in them. Did the toilet bowl count? In my agitation I decided it did, at least for paperbacks and jewelry. But I drew the line at larger but decidedly non-bowl-like containers. And my apprehension only increased as I realized that, whereas I had been called to put everything I have into _a_ bowl, I was using _many_ bowls, with only the prospect of still more to come. In the resulting slough of despond, I nearly called off the whole project and went to bed. Then inspiration struck. There _were_ bowls large enough to hold all I had, indeed all I ever hoped to have. And there was one less than 2600 miles away, and poorly guarded. Twelve feverish hours later, I had the truck rented, loaded, fueled, and pointed west – directly at the Hollywood Bowl. My bolt-cutters lay in the seat beside me; a Big Gulp Energy Drink resided in my slightly trembling hand. I was ready to embrace my destiny. Then, for added inspiration, I decided to stop at a 24-hour Copy store and read the thread whose title had inspired me. Ahh, phooey. Now I’ve gotta spend tomorrow waiting around for the plumber. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/38 "2006-06-01T13:38:26Z")
It was good when I tried it – a bit too light on the chicken for the price, though. My problem was with the order-taker: a manager at that. I asked what’s on it and she snarkily said “exactly whats in the picture”. Well if I could tell what was in the picture I wouldn’t ask would I? So I asked and she said “mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, cheese, and popcorn”. Me: “Popcorn _chicken_, right”? It’s a _new item_, we aren’t supposed to magically know what ingredients are in it. And you should tell people if they ask anyway. What if it was goat milk or popcorn fish and I was allergic? And it’s basic decency to tell people when they ask anyway and not assume we just can psychically know what the gravy-smothered and fried ingredients are, and, more importantly, that the ingredients will _exactly match_ the picture. It’s good: if it were cheaper I’d go to KFC more for it. But as it is its goodness is balanced by the bad service I received. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/39 "2006-06-01T13:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=cerberus] I don’t understand the cheese topping. [/QUOTE] It seems to me a basic principle of fast food that you create new menu items by adding cheese to things. Look at Pizza Hut, for example. Every item on their menu has cheese on it, and they’re _still_ using cheese to create new items. _Vide_ the stuffed crust pizza “with a ring of delicious cheese baked right into the crust,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971/40 "2006-06-01T14:03:13Z")
I tried one and it was tasty. But at 31 grams of fat (9 saturated) it will be off my dinner option menu. I can’t believe someone here ate 3 in one week, and someone else ate 3 IN ONE SITTING :eek:!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aww-fuck-it-lets-just-put-everything-we-have-in-a-bowl/358971.md?page=3)