As the article says, "taste" (mostly smell, really) is highly subjective and influenced by experience and the tastes of people around you, especially as a child. Many people seem to be trained such that they perceive McDonald's as tasting good. Personally, I agree with you on its taste though.

I don't find McDonald's fries particularly smell of anything. I don't really dislike the taste, but for me the texture is poor. I was born and raised in England, so I had Fish & Chips and the invariable logic where I lived was the bigger the better so you could literally find a 'fry' that was half an inch thick and instead of being deep fried they're only fried until they're cooked and crisp on the outside.

My wife thinks McDonalds fries have the perfect texture, me personally I think they're sticks of fried vegetable fat with the potato extracted.

The problem with thick fries (sometimes called "steak fries") is that they radiate heat very slowly. You can pick up a thin, crunchy fry, blow on it, and it will be ready to eat in seconds. The thick fries, while delicious, have burnt me many times.

food staying hot is a feature not a bug

"burnt me many times" - sounds like a bug to me

may I suggest you use an alternative product - a packet of potato chips. They are tasty, salty, delicious, cooked in oil and bad for your heart - all the properties of fries but without the objectionable burning sensation that is an intrinsic property of hot foods.

To the contrary, perceiving McDonald's food as tasty is the natural state, that's why children love McDonald's. Only later some of them become liberal intellectuals and train themselves into not liking it.

I remember one of the first times taking my son to McDonald's, explicitly thinking that we were going to get some unhealthy food, but, hey kids love McDonald's, and it's just this once.

I got him a burger and fries. He tried them, but was not interested at all. (The milkshake on the other hand...)

I found myself going into dinner time Daddy mode: "You shouldn't waste that food, here, take a few more bites..."

When it hit me...what the Hell was I doing? I was trying to force my kid to like McDonald's. What kind of awful parent was I turning into?

So we got up, took the milkshake with us, and left.

(Since then, I think he has been socialized into liking McDonald's by peer and grandparent influence. But I dispute the contention that liking McDonald's food is a "natural" state.)

A lot of very credible food writers disagree with you; for instance, when Jeffrey Steingarten wrote an essay comparing gourmet ketchups to Heinz, he used McDonalds fries as the vehicle for them because of their high quality. I don't love them either, but still.

I worked at two McDonald's off and on while in high school and university, for about a total of three years combined, and I have to say that, unfortunately, I still love the way their burgers taste better than any other restaurant chain. It's something I've enjoyed every since I can remember, and that's probably a large influence.

However, I will agree that while I still like their fries, I much prefer the fries sold at Burger King and other various "local" chains, like Steak 'n Shake, etc...

mmm... steak n shake. Perhaps the best after-bar food ever. Ironically, their fries suck.