Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.l,b.
Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants ). Franchise operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.
The capital requirements involved in opening up a fast food restaurant are relatively low. Restaurants with much higher sit-in ratios, where customers tend to sit and have their orders brought to them in a seemingly more upscale atmosphere, may be known in some areas as fast casual restaurants.
History
See also: fast food restaurant#HistoryThe concept of ready-cooked food for sale is closely connected with urban development. In Ancient Rome cities had street stands that sold bread and wine. A fixture of East Asian cities is the noodle shop. Flatbread and falafel are today ubiquitous in the Middle East. Popular Indian fast food dishes include vada pav, panipuri and dahi vada. In the French-speaking nations of West Africa, roadside stands in and around the larger cities continue to sell—as they have done for generations—a range of ready-to-eat, char-grilled meat sticks known locally as brochettes (not to be confused with the bread snack of the same name found in Europe).
Pre-modern Europe
In the cities of Roman antiquity, much of the urban population living in insulae , multi-storey apartment blocks, depended on food vendors for much of their meals. In the mornings, bread soaked in wine was eaten as a quick snack and cooked vegetables and stews later in the day at a popina , a simple type of eating establishment. In the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban areas such as London and Paris supported numerous vendors that sold dishes such as pies, pasties, flans, waffles, wafers, pancakes and cooked meats. As in Roman cities during antiquity, many of these establishments catered to those who did not have means to cook their own food, particularly single households. Unlike richer town dwellers, they could often not afford to rent housing with kitchen facilities or even to buy , and in English cities like Coventry and London, price controls on meat pies were enforced. Travellers, such as pilgrims en route to a holy site, whether rich or poor, were also among the customers.
Modern era
United Kingdom
In areas which had access to coastal or tidal waters, 'fast food' would frequently include local shellfish or seafood, such as oysters or, as in London, eels. Often this seafood would be cooked directly on the quay or close by. The development of trawler fishing in the mid nineteenth century would lead to the development of a British favorite fish and chips partly due to such activities.
Owing to differing availability of ingredients and tastes, until the Great War, British fast food had considerable regional variation. Sometimes the regionality of dish became part of the culture of its respective area.
The content of fast food pies has varied, with poultry (such as chickens) or wildfowl commonly being used. After World War II, turkey has been used more frequently in fast food.
A particularly British form of fast food is the sandwich, popularised by John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich in 1762 when he wrapped dried meat in bread so as not to interrupt his work or his gambling (accounts vary). The sandwich has similarities in other cuisines and cultures such as the filled baguettes popular in France. Despite its wide appeal and consumption in the UK, it is only in recent years that the sandwich in its various forms has been considered to be fast food, initially being promoted as such by niche chains such as Subway and Pret a Manger.
As well as its native forms, the UK has adopted fast food from other cultures, such as pizza (Italian), Chinese noodles, kebab, curry and various other forms of fast foods come from other parts of the Commonwealth of Nations. and further afield. In some areas imported fast food has become part of both the local, and British culture in general. More recently healthier alternatives to conventional fast food have also emerged.
A 2008 study was conducted worldwide counting the number of fast food restaurants per person.The UK has claimed this title with Australia second and the United States third. England alone accounted for 25% of all fast food. In the United Kingdom the most popular restaurant was McDonalds, with Burger King and KFC its only rivals
United States
In 1867, Charles Feltman, a German butcher, opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand in Brooklyn, New York City, though the origin of the term is in dispute. The World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago 1893) and the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 are credited with mass promotion of a number of portable foods, including the hot dog, the ice cream cone, cotton candy and iced tea.
The "diner" concept dates back to 1872, when Walter Scott of Providence, Rhode Island outfitted a horse-drawn lunch wagon with a simple kitchen so that he could bring hot dinners to workers.
The modern history of fast food restaurants in the United States is often traced to July 7, 1912 with the opening of a fast food restaurant in New York City by Horn & Hardart. Their Automat was a cafeteria featuring prepared foods behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots. This was patterned after a Horn & Hardart Automat that had opened in Philadelphia in 1902. Numerous Automat restaurants were quickly built around the country to deal with the demand. Automats remained extremely popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The company also popularized the notion of "take-out" food, with their slogan "Less work for Mother".
As automobiles became popular and affordable following the First World War, drive-in restaurants were introduced. The American company White Castle, founded in 1921 by Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, is generally credited with opening the second fast food outlet and first hamburger chain, selling hamburgers for five cents apiece. Walter Anderson had built the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita in 1916, introducing the limited menu, high volume, low cost, high speed hamburger restaurant. Among its innovations, the company allowed customers to see the food being prepared. White Castle later added five holes to each beef patty to increase its surface area and speed cooking times. White Castle was successful from its inception and spawned numerous competitors.
Franchising was introduced in 1921 by A&W Root Beer, which franchised its distinctive syrup. Howard Johnson's first franchised the restaurant concept in the mid-1930s, formally standardizing menus, signage and advertising.
Curb service was introduced in the late 1920s and was mobilized in the 1940s when carhops strapped on roller skates.
Today the United States has the largest fast food industry in the world, American fast food restaurants are located in over 100 countries.
On the go
See also: Convenience foodFast food outlets are take-away or take-out providers, often with a "drive-through" service which allows customers to order and pick up food from their cars; but most also have a seating area in which customers can eat the food on the premises.
Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on the go", often does not require traditional cutlery, and is eaten as a finger food. Common menu items at fast food outlets include fish and chips, sandwiches, pitas, hamburgers, fried chicken, French fries, chicken nuggets, tacos, pizza, hot dogs, and ice cream, although many fast food restaurants offer "slower" foods like chili, mashed potatoes, and salads.
Filling stations
Many petrol/gas stations have convenience stores which sell pre-packaged sandwiches, doughnuts, and hot food. Many gas stations in the United States also sell frozen foods and have microwaves on the premises in which to prepare them.
Street vendors and concessions
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