Crossword Dictionary
Big Mac
The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's flagship products and signature dishes.
The Big Mac consists of two 1.6 oz (45.4 g) beef patties, Iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, chopped onions and special Mac Sauce (a Thousand Island dressing variant, though the recipe remains a secret) served on a three part sesame seed bun. The Big Mac Sauce is delivered to McDonald's restaurants in sealed canisters designed by Sealright, from which it is meant to be directly dispensed using a special calibrated "sauce gun" that dispenses a specified amount of the sauce for each pull of the trigger. Its design is similar to a caulking gun.
History
The Big Mac was created by Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who was operating several restaurants in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. It was designed to compete with the similar Big Boy. Customer response to the Big Mac was so good that it rolled-out nationally in 1968. One of its most distinctive feature is a middle slice of bread ("club" layer) used to stabilize contents and prevent spillage.
In addition to the McDonald's signature hamburger, Officer Big Mac was the name of a character in McDonaldland, the fictional world created as an advertising campaign for McDonald's. Big Mac was similar to Mayor McCheese, except he was the chief of police, wearing a constable uniform and sporting a large Big Mac for a head.