Thanks to Duncan
for this link.
“Which great secret would you prefer to know: the source code to
Microsoft’s Windows, or the Colonel’s secret recipe? You choose.
For me, it depends on what I would stand to gain from having been
let in on such a secret.”
“KFC is more accessible, in that knowing its recipe would,
theoretically, allow anyone to make KFC-quality fried chicken,
something nearly any average person could do. I worked for the
Colonel during summers while in college. I was a cook, and there
was a time when I actually brought home a packet of the famed
original recipe spice mix (which cryptically and tauntingly listed
the ingredients as ”eleven herbs and spices”), with the sole
intention of trying to solve the riddle. Using a magnifying glass,
and later a high-powered microscope, I thought I had hacked my way
into the heart of what makes KFC so original. Thinking I had
successfully identified all the spices, and by doing a quick
statistical analysis of the quantity of each spice, I thought I
would be able to replicate the tasty chicken at home. Of course, my
results were less than Kentucky Fried, but that was okay, because I
realized that in this case, ignorance would be preferred. Knowing
the Colonel’s secret would remove all the mystery and intrigue, and
surely my love for the chicken would diminish.”