On the face of things the people of the Tyne Tees region have had a bad year. Along with current economic woes their two major premier league football teams have been relegated. So why do the people of the Tyne Tees region seem so happy?
What most people don't know, is that these people have been living in a Chicktopia, picked for not one but now two extremely high profile product trials.
First Tyne Tees trialled KFC AM and now they have been selected to trial KFC's newest and boldest innovation to date. In a move away from their core product KFC is introducing Kentucky Griddled Chicken, flavoured not with KFC's signature 11 secret herbs and spices, nor any particularly Kentuckian ingredients, but by Chimmichurri, a south American dish with reputed British colonial provenance.
The new products will be:
- Griddled Chicken Chiabatta
- Griddled Chicken Twister
- Griddled Chicken Salad
- There will also be a
Griddled Chicken variety bucket.
First Look : Griddled Chicken Ciabatta
We don't know the full breakdown yet but we can surmise, from the picture a number of things. Here we have a small but plump Ciabatta roll, not suffering from the plight of the current panini which can seem lost within its bread.
1 full GRIDDLED Chicken breast topped with cheese and lettuce. Above this is a substance that KFBs lab boys say at best guess must be salsa.
Beneath the Chicken breast however lies the largest taste of the unknown, a cream based sauce flecked with what appears to be herbs. What is this mystery sauce and what are those herbs?. . . . . KFB will let you know.
So, what is Chimichurri & where did it come from?
Chimichurri is made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, vegetable oil, white or red vinegar and red pepper flakes. Additional spices, such as paprika (pimenton dulce), oregano, cumin and bay leaf (laurel) can be added or removed based on the region .
Chimichurri originated from Argentina and Uruguay, is a popular sauce used with grilled meat in many Latin American countries.It is told that the unusual name comes from 'Jimmy McCurry', an Irishman who is said to have first prepared the sauce. He was marching with the troops of General Jasson Ospina in the 19th century, sympathetic to the cause of Argentine independence. The sauce was popular and the recipe was passed on. However, 'Jimmy McCurry' was difficult for the native people to say. Some sources claim Jimmy's sauce's name was corrupted to 'chimichurri', while others say it was changed in his honour.
The point?
Well, these new options will offer much healthier alternatives with the Griddled Ciabatta having only 354 calories. The Griddled Chicken is oven cooked on a griddle, rather than being fried and will help to utilise the ovens needed for KFC. AM making both products more cost effective
Spiritual Matters
This is a very bold move for KFC which has always stayed very true to its core values of fried Chicken, not even offering a vegetarian option. However with a long heritage of producing top quality poultry based burgers, as opposed to the 2nd rate products churned out by their competitors, (Stand up McChicken sandwich you know what you really are) I feel confident that KFC can deliver. However KFB are looking at a little road trip and will give detailed feedback and if up to scratch offer our endorsement.
And finally, Why does Tyne Tees get all the best stuff?
Like spoiled little children we exclaim, "It's not fair. . . . I want some new KFC products to trial, why do the Tyne Tees people get all the best stuff?" The answer, geography and demographics. This particular region is good for large scale trials as it has a good urban area conurbation in which to sell new products, which is then bordered by a relatively sparsely populated buffer zone. This allows the trial to be easily contained in this region, without the possibility of any gerrymandering by those restaurants who would claim they were part of the region just to get their hands on new style Chickeny goodness.
