Vapid (pronounced vap-id)
(1) Lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat.
(2) Without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious; flavorless, spiritless, unanimated, tiresome, prosaic.
(3) Something (physical or conceptual) which appears to offer nothing stimulating or challenging.
1650s: From the Latin vapidus (literally “that has exhaled its vapor”) and related to vappa (stale wine). The word was used in Latin to describe anything the taste of which was thought bland, flat or insipid. Dating from 1721, the noun vapidity is is more frequent use than the companion vapidness while the application to talk, text, music and such thought dull and lifeless dates from 1758. The Latin vappa (wine without flavor) is still used figuratively in many languages (sometimes as "bit of a vapp") to refer to a man who is "a good-for-nothing" or a bit foppish. In English public (ie private) schools where Latin was taught, of the meals served, the pupils would use the Latin vapidum (nominative neuter singular of vapidus in the sense of "food or drink that has lost its freshness". In the context of political or corporate statements with an obvious or depressing vapidity, two fine words or descriptions are flummery & pabulum. Vapid is an adjective, vapidity & vapidness are nouns, and vapidly is an adverb; the noun plural is plural vapidities.
The Koryo Burger
It’s estimated that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, some 5,000 Western tourists annually would visit the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; North Korea), a trade it was hoped might quickly recover given it wasn't until early 2022 nation's first outbreak was confirmed. For the a country ti have for so long remained virus-free was said to be (yet another) example of Kim Jong-Un's (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK since 2011) outstanding administration of the public health system, the outbreak the fault of corrupt or lazy officials who would have been dealt with in the DPRK's efficient way. By May 2026, most people on Earth probably assumed Covid-19 had become just another tiresome background risk like the annual influenza season (which in a bad year, globally, can kill over half a million) but the DPRK remains closed to most international tourists, Pyongyang having no more desire to expose its happy and grateful population to foreign ideas than it had to welcoming foreign diseases. Visas are still granted to some lucky souls from the PRC (People's Republic of China) but the only structured tours still conducted by Koryo Tours are those arranged for approved visitors from Russia. That concession is believed connected to the "special relationship" the Supreme Leader seems to have established with Mr Putin (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; b 1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999), the once-strained ties greatly strengthened by the DPRK's helpful generosity in supplying to the Kremlin men & materiel for the special military operation (ie the invasion of Ukraine which in Russia it's unlawful to call a war).
So, when others will be able to delight in a DPRK holiday isn't known but one thing prospective tourists hungrily can anticipate is the national airline’s in-flight meal. Although Air Koryo serves only the infamously vapid Koryo Burger, it is legendarily consistent, always cold and presented on a paper doily. Inside the bun is a patty of unidentified processed meat, a slice of processed cheese and a dash of shredded cabbage or single lettuce leaf, finished with a dollop of sauce described variously as “reddish” or “brownish”. Some sources, claiming to have received confirmation from the airline, suggest the meat is chicken but speculation on various platforms has long pondered the matter because it seems impossible to tell from the taste (there isn't any) or texture (said to be equally indeterminate). Until some daring amateur spy smuggles a fragment back for analysis, speculation will continue. Packaged chilled fruit juices are available with the Air Koryo in-flight meal including Haitai’s 배즙 (pear juice), made with “real crushed pear pulp”. Because the Supreme Leader promotes the importance of monitoring one’s calorie intake (to avoid weight gain), all processed foods in the DPRK must include a NIP (Nutrition Information Panel): Haitai’s pear juice is indicated to have an energy content of 168 kJ per 100 ml and a sugar content of 10%.
Air Koryo did in the past dabble with other culinary offerings. Some years ago, for several months, for reasons unknown, on certain inbound flights, full meals appeared including curried rice and side dishes; also served was a sort of sandwich, wrapped in a Danish pastry but neither gastronomic innovation long lasted and in recent years it's been the signature burgers all the way, the airline clearly having decided to "stick to the classics". That decision may have been in response to public demand given the cult-following the Koryo Burger has attracted, #koryoburger a must-visit tag for any foodie. Surely not as repugnant as some have alleged, the many reviews of the experience of eating one seem to struggle to find words adequately to convey blandness rather than awfulness although, apart from the plastic packaging which seems to be of a good standard, few aspects of the burger often escape at least mild criticism, the buns said always to be stale (either through age, incorrect storage or some flaw in the manufacturing process), the meat patty vapid to the point where it’s been suggested the admired wrapping may be more tasty, the lettuce or cabbage usually limp and the smell of the sauce hinting at some association with wood-working glue although one reviewer mentioned their relief at finding a thin liquid which oozed from the patty was "too watery to be blood" so there was that. Most however did concede the slice of processed cheese was much the same as "plastic cheese" anywhere on the planet. Koryo burgers are served chilled, apparently straight from the fridge and it may be this that accounts for much of the expressed distaste; were they served at the temperature at which burgers typically are eaten, it’s not impossible the Koryo Burger would taste more like similar offerings anywhere.
The review site Skytrax for years rated Air Koryo among the world’s worst airlines but things must have improved because in recent ratings the operation has received an unexceptional but solid 6 / 10. Trip Advisor's reviewers seem broadly to concur, the site's aggregated rating a respectable 3½ / 5 which, statistically, is not significantly different from Skytrax's findings although one entry did note: "They did serve their notorious burgers on board but I didn’t try it." The more recent passenger reviews Skytrax publishes haven't especially condemned the Koryo Burger; although most won't go much beyond conceding it's "acceptable", at least one happy diner declared it "tasty" which may be generous but who knows, maybe they were lucky enough to get a particularly good one. For many reasons, in-flight catering is a challenging business with even air pressure affecting the way people perceive taste so expectations have to be reasonable. In the same way it's a good stay if one can check out of a hotel without having been robbed, poisoned or murdered by the Freemasons, if one's plane safely lands and one survives, even if the food served would not have contented an epicurean, that's a good flight. Customer reviews of Air Koryo are not wholly negative, some claiming in certain aspects the operation is superior to carriers in other places.
Not a favourite among mainstream critics: If “vapid” has attracted an adverb, it’s a warning the reviewer really disliked a film. Upon release, The Canyons (2013) was not well-received but, like I Know Who Killed Me (2007), it picked up a cult following and has been reassessed, seemingly now better understood in its historic context. While not a landmark piece of cinema, The Canyons was a document of its time and, in the years since, has been shown at festivals of the underground & alternative as well as midnight screenings. The consensus at the time of release was that in a flawed film, Lindsay Lohan's performance was the most interesting part.
What can't be denied is there have been gastronomic advances in the DPRK’s skies. While in the days of the Great Leader and Dear Leader, the only choice usually was to (1) eat burger or (2) not eat burger (although it's not impossible eating burger may have been compulsory for DPRK citizens on the flight), in the new age of the Supreme Leader there's now a vegetarian option, which is the familiar Koryo Burger but with sliced cherry tomatoes in place of the meat patty. Few have commented on the Koryo Veggie Burger but one reviewer praised the fruit, saying they tasted better than those from Western shops which were firm, plump and shiny but lacked flavor. That is a common complaint, many longing for the quality of acidity remembered in tomatoes of yore.
The Supreme Leader is the DPRK's most celebrated gastronome and every morning, promptly at 04:30, he arrives at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport's (TripAdvisor rating 5 / 5, rather better than some given to the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas) catering department, personally to select the buns to be used for that day's Koryo Burgers. "The buns Kim Jong-un rejects" are fed to political prisoners who are most grateful to the Supreme Leader for having received them, despite the heinous crimes of which they're all guilty as sin (including those convicted of "unspecified offences"). The tradition of the daily selection of buns was started by his grandfather (Kim I, the Great Leader) and carried on by his father (Kim II, the Dear Leader). Wherever he goes, the Supreme Leader's entourage always carry notebooks and pens in case he says anything interesting. Every word they write down.
