The Wheat Flour Rondo -- Gratin, Croquette, and Bread --

This paper reflects on the Japanese McDonald’s Gratin Croquette Burger, a seasonal burger that combines a gratin croquette with a hamburger bun. The author, who enjoys the burger, noticed that wheat appears repeatedly in different forms within the same food: as macaroni, an ingredient in the white sauce, the croquette coating, and the bun. Rather than evaluating the burger nutritionally, this paper explores how a single raw material can be transformed into several different forms and brought together again in one dish. The idea is described metaphorically as a “wheat flour rondo,” in which the same material repeatedly returns in different forms. The paper offers a simple reflection on how changing the perspective from finished food to raw materials can reveal structures that are otherwise easy to overlook.