Unperky Tries Chocolate Fries

Well, obviously this is something I tried. It was on a day when I'd called in sick for work because I was buzzing with headaches and fatigue, so instead of taking the borderline-homeopathic nonsense that passes for over-the-counter pain relief in this country, I chose to self-medicate with fast food. I had struggled my way through my morning Japanese class because I knew I wouldn't get my money back from a same-day cancellation, and thinking about the McDonald's across the street - and its special, limited-time-only chocolate-covered French fries - was the only thing that got me through the whole hour.

Japan loves limited-edition stuff, even when the resulting product is something seemingly no-one would ever want to eat. I've even seen plum-flavoured crisps, so by Japanese standards the McChoco Potato is actually pretty tame. Your eyes are not deceiving you -  it's just regular fries that come with a chocolate and white-chocolate sauce, which you drizzle on yourself from a special double-pocketed packet designed to evenly disperse both sauces at the same time. (I wish I'd kept the packet; it was quite a feat of engineering.)

I was half-expecting the McChoco Potato to be a freakshow of a dish, but it was actually quite pleasant. The saltiness and sweetness makes for a fine combination - a bit like salted caramel, but more honest in its appeal to humanity's base desires. The only issue is that the sauce tends to cover the top of the pile of fries, but get less plentiful down the bottom, which leads to a slightly confusing ending. Chocolate-covered fries are good, but if you just have a normal fry with a dab of chocolate on them, it just feels like a mistake. Thorough dispersal is necessary to improve the product, I think. Maybe it should come packed with a pair of miniature salad tongs, so you can toss the sauce through like a Ceasar dressing.

The good news is that if you aren't in Japan, or you were too late to the party and McChoco Potato is no longer available by the time you read this, you can recreate them at home quite easily yourself with McDonalds fries and a jar of Nutella. I know I will.