The Supermarket Gourmet

by Buck Reed

Burgers: The King of Sandwiches

Burgers hold a special place in the hearts of Americans. Whatever way you stack them, they definitely have the numbers on their side. With nearly 50 billion consumed a year, this means we eat about three burgers a week, and about 60 percent of all sandwiches ordered are, in fact, some sort of burger. As far as celebrities, we all know a character named J. Wellington Whimpey, who will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. A not so well known celebrity is 100-pound-competitive-eater Molly Schuler, who holds the world’s record for fastest burger eater, consuming seven burgers in 1 minute 53 seconds. In case you were worried that she was walking away hungry, that included a 20-ounce Coke and side of fries. As far as who invented the burger, it wasn’t a clown named Ronald. Most credit Fletcher Davis, who owned a lunch counter in Athens, Texas. In the early 1800s, he served a fried ground beef patty between two pieces of bread with mustard and a slice of Bermuda onion, and a pickle on the side. McDonald’s reopened, after closing its first restaurant in 1948, with a hamburger that cost 15 cents and for 4 cents more you could have it with cheese. Today, I have seen people drop a nickel and a dime on the ground and not even bother to pick it up. The McDonald’s menu included nine items, and they were known for speed and consistency. Today, a burger with the works is dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle, along with a variety of condiments, and is available in any moderately priced restaurant. And, of course, anywhere they offer a burger, you can always get it with a slice of American cheese melted on top, thank you very much. Fancier joints might even offer you a choice of the kind of cheese you would like on your burger, ranging from cheddar to Swiss, as well as almost any other kind that you can imagine. As far as condiments, the basics are ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, but you can also opt for barbeque sauce, salsa, Thousand Island dressing, bleu cheese dressing, guacamole, or just about anything the chef can imagine. My own Bistro Burger included bistro sauce, which was barbeque sauce mixed with mayonnaise. In this day and age, everyone seems to be reinventing the burger. Some are looking back to the days when burgers were served with a fried egg on top. Right now, it is chic to come up with a cool name and then come up with the toppings for a unique burger. Like the Big Kahuna might have a grilled slice of fresh pineapple and barbeque sauce on it, or a southwest burger might have salsa, avocado, and a slice of cheddar cheese. Thinking outside the box, some chefs are adding thick-cut fried onion rings to their burger creations. Not stopping there, we are now finding menus that offer fried mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers on their burger creations. Onion jam and bacon jam are actually making some appearances that are adding a decadent panache to our burgers. Let’s not forget the bun. I believe a sandwich is only as good as the bread it is served on, and a good burger is no exception. You can still do well with the cheap hamburger buns that are sold in any grocery bread aisle; but don’t overlook a good Kaiser roll, club roll, or even brioche roll. Now, they are even offering a good Hawaiian bread style roll to add a new dimension to your burger. Start with good bread and you can’t go wrong here. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You never really know where the next big burger idea will come from. And who knows, you might even become famous…at least in the world of burgers.