{{Short description|Type of meal that typically includes food items and a beverage}} thumb|An example of foods served as a fast food combination meal {{Meals}} thumb|A combination meal with chicken curry, rice and beef curry [[File:Cashew Chicken Springfield.jpg|thumb|An American Chinese cuisine combination meal, consisting of cashew chicken, fried rice, and an egg roll]] thumb|A Spanish combination meal, consisting of a hamburger, potato wedges and a beer
A '''combination meal''', often referred as a '''combo-meal''',<ref name="Obesity 2009"/> is a type of meal that typically includes food items and a beverage. They are a common menu item at fast food restaurants, and other restaurants also purvey them. Combination meals may be priced lower compared to ordering items separately, but this is not always the case. A combination meal is also a meal in which the consumer orders items à la carte to create their own meal combination.
The ''casado'' is a common type of lunch combination meal in Costa Rica and Panama.
==Overview== Fast food combination meals typically include a main item (called entrée in American English, but not usually in French) such as a hamburger, a side dish such as fries, and a beverage such as a soft drink.<ref name="Black 2009"/> Other types of restaurants, such as fast-casual restaurants also offer combination meals.<ref name="www.fastcasual.com 2010"/>
Combination meals may be priced lower compared to ordering the same items separately, and this lower pricing may serve to entice consumers that are budget-minded.<ref name="Black 2009"/><ref name="Ferrante 2005"/> A 2010 study published in the ''Journal of Public Policy & Marketing'' found that some consumers may order a combination meal even if no price discount is applied compared to the price of ordering items separately.<ref name="www.fastcasual.com 2010"/> The study found that this behavior is based upon consumers perceiving an inherent value in combination meals, and also suggested that the ease and convenience of ordering, such as ordering a meal by number, plays a role compared to ordering items separately.<ref name="www.fastcasual.com 2010"/> This study also found that the presence of combination meals encourages consumers to increase meal portion size by supersizing their meals.<ref name="www.fastcasual.com 2010"/>
A combination meal can also comprise a meal in which separate dishes are selected by consumers from an entire menu, and can include à la carte selections that are combined on a plate.<ref name="FTIA 1980"/> A fast food combination meal can contain over {{convert|1300|Cal|kJ}}.<ref name="Nonas Foster Association 2009"/> Fast food restaurants sometimes offer a means to order larger portions of food within the format of the combination meal, such as supersizing.<ref name="Keller 2008"/>
==History== In the United States in the early 1930s, the combination meal was a popular dish in restaurants and in homes.{{efn|"The "combination" meal is popular in many homes as well as in commercial eating places. Some foreign dishes are favorite "combination" meals; for example, Mexican tortillas and enchiladas, Spanish rice, chop suey and Hungarian goulash."<ref name="Wood Lindquist Studley 1932"/>}}
==In Latin America== In Costa Rican and Panamanian cuisine, a combination meal is referred to as a ''casado'', which means "married".<ref name="Penland 2008"/><ref name="Fodors 2010 p. 20"/> It is a typical lunch dish in both countries.<ref name="Penland 2008"/><ref name="Fodors 2010 p. 20"/> In Costa Rica, a ''casado'' typically consists of a meat dish, rice and beans, and deli salads.<ref name="Penland 2008"/> Additional foods comprising the Costa Rican ''casado'' can include fried plantain, noodles and tomatoes.<ref name="Kelly 2007"/> In Costa Rica, the term ''plato del día'' (plate of the day) is frequently used interchangeably with the term ''casado''.<ref name="Kelly 2007"/>
In Panama, a ''casado'' typically consists of an entree, rice and beans, and cabbage.<ref name="Fodors 2010 p. 20"/> In Panama, the ''plato executive'', which means "executive plate", is a prix fixe (fixed price) lunch menu offered in some upscale restaurants that is similar in concept to the ''casado''.<ref name="Fodors 2010 p. 20"/>
==In Spain== The Spanish version of the combination meal, known as ''plato combinado'', is a staple in bars and restaurants across the country. These meals are popular as they are affordable and can be quickly cooked to order. They often consist of a main (meat, e.g. grilled steak, hamburgers or breaded cutlets; seafood, e.g. fried calamari or grilled squid; fish, battered or grilled; or other fried foods, such as croquettes), a side dish of salad or French fries (in some cases, mixed vegetables or peas), and a fried egg.
The meals date back to the Spanish Civil War. During that period, the Francoist dictatorship introduced a single-course day (''Día del Plato Único''), which initially took place every fortnight and then each Friday, in order to support the war effort. However, most upscale restaurants circumvented the rule by increasing serving sizes or using ingredients in short supply, such as seafood, fish or fresh eggs.<ref name="El Español 2016"/> In its current iteration, the ''plato combinado'' was designed to cater to the increasing number of tourists during the Spanish miracle. To do so, the meals and their prices were normalised; in this way, the offerings would be consistent across the country. As the meal sets were not popular with tourists, the government began to promote them amongst the local population, where they were well received. This could be explained by their association with American-style diners, which were fashionable in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name="El Español 2016"/>
Despite their popularity, the ''plato combinado'' is often seen as unhealthy and outdated. This is due to the cooking techniques used, as many of the products are deep-fried. In addition, many of the products used tend to be lacking in quality, as they are mostly frozen.<ref name="El Comidista 2016"/> In this sense, the fare is similar to that served in cafés or greasy spoons in the United States and the United Kingdom.
==See also== * British meal deals * Blue-plate special * List of restaurant terminology * Meat and three * Plate lunch * Soup and sandwich * Value meal * {{portal-inline|Food}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== <references> <ref name="Black 2009">{{cite book | last=Black | first=K. | title=Business Statistics: Contemporary Decision Making | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | series=Wiley Plus Products Series | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-470-40901-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQ25WExx5usC&pg=PA266 | access-date=January 18, 2017 | page=266}}</ref> <ref name="FTIA 1980">[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1FCAAAAYAAJ ''Food Technology in Australia'']. Council of Australian Food Technology Associations. 1980. Volume 32. p. 580.</ref> <ref name="Keller 2008">{{cite book | last=Keller | first=K. | title=Encyclopedia of Obesity | publisher=SAGE Publications | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4522-6585-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rhJzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259 | access-date=January 18, 2017 | page=259}}</ref> <ref name="Nonas Foster Association 2009">{{cite book | last=Nonas | first=C. | last2=Foster | first2=G.D. | last3=Association | first3=American Dietetic | title=Managing Obesity: A Clinical Guide | publisher=American Dietetic Association | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-88091-425-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0waHMni1650C&pg=PA196 | access-date=January 18, 2017 | page=196}} </ref> <ref name="Ferrante 2005">{{cite book | last=Ferrante | first=J. | title=Sociology: A Global Perspective | publisher=Cengage Learning | series=Available Titles CengageNOW Series | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-495-00561-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5L3yoePIM0C&pg=PA194 | language=es | access-date=January 18, 2017 | page=194}}</ref> <ref name="Fodors 2010 p. 20">{{cite book | last=Fodor's Travel Publications | first=I.S. | last2=Kast | first2=M.E. | last3=Mattson | first3=S. | last4=Van Fleet | first4=J. | title=Fodor's Panama, 2nd Edition | publisher=Fodors Travel Pub. | series=Fodor's Panama | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-4000-0429-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_h-C_mtWI0QC&pg=PA20 | access-date=January 18, 2017 | page=20}}</ref> <ref name="www.fastcasual.com 2010">{{cite web | title=Study: People choose combo meals regardless of value or size | website=www.fastcasual.com | date=November 28, 2010 | url=http://www.fastcasual.com/news/study-people-choose-combo-meals-regardless-of-value-or-size/ | access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref> <ref name="Obesity 2009">Dumanovsky, T., Nonas, C. A., Huang, C. Y., Silver, L. D. and Bassett, M. T. (2009). [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2009.90/full "What People Buy From Fast-food Restaurants: Caloric Content and Menu Item Selection, New York City 2007"]. ''Obesity''. Volume 17. pp. 1369–1374. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.90</ref> <ref name="Penland 2008">{{cite book | last=Penland | first=P.R. | title=Explorer's Guide Costa Rica: With Excursions to Nicaragua & Panama: A Great Destination | publisher=Countryman Press | series=Explorer's Great Destinations | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-58157-989-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndiu4uxTw4C&pg=PA32 | access-date=January 19, 2017 | page=32}}</ref> <ref name="Kelly 2007">{{cite book | last=Kelly | first=M. | title=Costa Rica 2008 | publisher=Fodor's Travel Publications | series=Fodor's 2008 | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-4000-1803-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/fodorscostarica200kell | url-access=registration | access-date=January 19, 2017 | page=[https://archive.org/details/fodorscostarica200kell/page/455 455]}}</ref> <ref name="Wood Lindquist Studley 1932">{{cite book | last=Wood | first=M.W. | last2=Lindquist | first2=R. | last3=Studley | first3=L.A. | title=Managing the Home | publisher=Houghton Mifflin | series=Riverside home economics series | year=1932 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZFLAAAAIAAJ | access-date=January 19, 2017 | page=218}}</ref> <ref name="El Español 2016">{{cite web | last=Valdivieso | first=Marta| title=El plato combinado nació en la Guerra Civil | website=www.elespanol.com | date=May 7, 2016 | url=https://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/20160506/122737968_0.html | access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> <ref name="El Comidista 2016">{{cite web | last=Taboada | first=Lucía| title=La inmortalidad del plato combinado | website=www.elcomidista.elpais.com | date=February 26, 2016 | url=https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2016/02/11/articulo/1455231114_964470.html | access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> </references>
==Further reading== * {{cite web | title=Not so happy meal: Fast food combos take a beating | website=Fortune | date=July 1, 2012 | url=http://fortune.com/2012/08/01/not-so-happy-meal-fast-food-combos-take-a-beating/ | ref={{sfnref | Fortune | 2012}} | access-date=January 18, 2017}} * {{cite web | last=Bomkamp | first=Samantha | title=Burger chains see payoff from combo meal deals | website=Chicago Tribune | date=May 5, 2016 | url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-fast-food-combo-meals-0506-biz-20160505-story.html | access-date=January 18, 2017}} * {{cite web | title=Kids' consumption of high-calorie drinks at fast-food restaurants tied to combo meals | website=NYU Langone Medical Center | date=October 7, 2016 | url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161007221720.htm | ref={{sfnref | ScienceDaily | 2017}} | access-date=January 18, 2017}}
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