It’s a wrap!
After 8 years and 225 lab-tested meals, Megan Ogilvie writes her final The Dish
Eight years ago, The Dish began with a promise and a pile of pad Thai.
Denial would no longer be on the menu: The Dish was here to help you uncover the calories in your favourite foods.
The pad Thai was a silky, deceptively fatty swirl of noodles from Spring Rolls restaurant that lab tests revealed had an astonishing 1,382 calories. That initial column, dated March 5, 2010, was also the first to offer the now-familiar, but largely unpopular, advice to split the monstrous meal with a friend.
Sorry readers, we had your best nutritional interests at heart.
Since then, The Dish has investigated more than 225 meals, drinks and snacks, everything from a Jamaican beef patty to a mango milk bubble tea, a giant chocolate chip cookie to a sushi burrito.
And even though readers have recently asked me to test Thai green curry, a gourmet hotdog and yet another leafy salad bowl, it’s time to say goodbye to The Dish.
The thrill I used to get when opening the latest lab report has waned. It’s hard to be surprised anymore.
The column’s take-home advice has become a little bit tired, at least to me. There’s only so many ways to recommend splitting an outrageously large meal. Admit it, haven’t you read “share with a friend” just one too many times?
Also, there’s been a subtle shift in nutrition advice since 2010.
Back then, the focus was on specific nutrients, meaning a meal with 35 grams of fat, no matter its make up, was automatically relegated to a once-in-a-while food.
Today, the type and quality of a meal’s ingredients matters more, as do a person’s overall eating habits.
But before I sign off for good — or arrange for a team of scientists to ruin one more favourite meal — I want to say thank you. These eight years have been so much fun.
Thank you for all your letters. I have loved hearing from Star readers.
Nearly 1,200 restaurant requests and many dozens more emails have filled my inbox. I have read every one.
Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad to hear The Dish has helped you become more discerning diners.
I’m also aware my calorie reveals have broken many hearts. Thanks, too, for reading. A recent tally shows The Dish has generated more than 3.2 million reader views on thestar.com since March, 2010. I’m thrilled that the column remained popular for so long.
Lastly, I think it’s only fair to leave you with the same nutritional advice I’ve learned from researching and writing The Dish.
It’s mostly straightforward, largely easy to follow and doesn’t require a lengthy laboratory analysis.
Dine out less often because portions are always outrageously big. Assume a dinner out will have at least 1,000 calories and a half day’s worth of sodium.
Beware of sauces and dressings; that’s where salt and fat lurk. Don’t drink your calories; those supersweet beverages are the same as slurping up a dessert. When in doubt, share with a friend.
And sometimes it’s OK to order exactly what you want, eat it all by yourself and enjoy every bite.