8 Record-Breaking Dishes

As we round the corner into Thanksgiving, the planning begins for this year's nap-inducing, oversized spread. But even if your turkey is the biggest yet, even if your stuffing is monstrously indulgent, your feast won't be breaking any records. And that's probably a good thing since record-breaking dishes tend to use ingredients by the ton, rather than the ounce.

In Pictures: 8 Record-Breaking Dishes

Record-breaking dishes, while they do ultimately get gobbled up by participants and witnesses, are meant to shock and awe (and draw publicity), more than they are a way of fulfilling everyone's orders. Take, for example,the world's largest burger, a record currently held in Canada. It costs a cool $4,500 and weighs in at a do-able 590 pounds. Sometimes they're stunts that raise funds for charity, celebrate an occasion or draw awareness to an issue, and they're always a fun way of bringing a community together. The world's largest plate of hummus brought together a band of chefs in Beirut who concocted 23,520 pounds of hummus to bring the record back to Lebanon.

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These record-breaking feasts use a record-breaking amount of ingredients that sound more like a restaurant's bulk order than what you'd use for a single dish. The world's largest fish 'n chips order, for example, was served with more than 57 pounds of fries (or "chips"), 200 liters of vegetable oil and, in the end, weighed 101 pounds, beating a record previously held by the Black Rose restaurant in Boston. So, don't be fooled. Despite America's reputation for all things oversized and gluttonous, many of these boggling records have been made in cities around the world, from Boca Raton to Beirut.

- Nicole Campoy-Leffler, The Daily Meal

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