- " "Our special today," the Reagan-thing continued, "is Mesquite-grilled sushi, cajun-style, dipped in Thai cilantro sauce." / Marty frowned. He didn't know what everything in that concoction was, but it sounded terrible! You weren't supposed to grill sushi, were you? There was maybe such a thing as having a little bit too much of the 80s. / The video image flickered and shifted, turning into this old guy with a beard and turban. It was the Ayatollah Khomeini! / "No!" the Ayatollah screamed. 'It is the Great Satan Special! I demand you have tofu!" "
- —From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 28)
The Hostage Special was a menu item forcefully suggested by the Ayatollah Khomeini video simulacrum to Marty McFly at the Cafe 80's in Hill Valley in 2015.
It is uncertain what this menu item contained, though it has been implied that tofu is the main ingredient.
Behind the scenes[]
- The name of the dish apparently referred to the Iran Hostage Crisis, during which 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran for over a year from 1979 to 1981.
- In the novelization (see Quote above), the Ayatollah simulacrum demanded that the customer order tofu, and the dish is called the "Great Satan Special" (see Quote above), most likely because of how the word 'hostage' in the Hostage Special was pronounced ("hah-stah-jee"). This name either refers to the Ayatollah having called the United States "the Great Satan" on several occasions, or to the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses for which the Ayatollah called for the death of its author, Salman Rushdie.
Appearances[]
- Paradox script (Mentioned as the Great Satan Special)
- Back to the Future Part II (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future Part II novelization (Mentioned as the Great Satan Special)
Sources[]
- A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon (As Hostage Special)