Last week's episode of AMC’s hit drama Breaking Bad started by leaving meth behind and venturing into a different kind of super-lab, the kitchen. Here, a money laundering fast-food executive eats a last meal, tater tots dipped in a variety of experimental dipping sauces, before committing suicide to avoid the police.
In what will undoubtedly be one of this season's most quoted scenes, a scientist at a taste laboratory explains one of the condiments: “This one is a new concept, and it intrigues us. Half French dressing and half ranch. We refer it simply as ... Franch.”
This Franch intrigued us too and though it was likely a new idea to viewers, Breaking Bad’s creator, Vince Gilligan, shared its origins with The Huffington Post:
Twenty years ago, I wrote a comedy in which a scientist accidentally kills God and feels really terrible about it. Meanwhile, his former lab assistant goes on to fame and fortune by inventing something called "Franch" -- a salad dressing that's half-French, half-ranch. I confess, I was cannibalizing an idea from an old script... but since it's clearly never going to be made into a movie, I figured "what the hell?"
Unable to resist the rich history and flavor of this cross-breed dressing we made up a batch and tested it out on our lab rats (food editors Kristen Aiken and Rachel Tepper, and entertainment reporter Joe Satran), who gave their reviews for the above video. Suffice it to say that while it may not be quite as addictive as crystal meth, nobody killed themselves after consumption.