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The Sad State of American Burgers

Posted by Adam Kuban, June 18, 2007 at 3:15 PM

Or, "When Doing What's Right Is Called 'Gourmet' "

So this kinda gets my hackles up. A story in the Dallas Morning News headlined "Burgers go gourmet" takes on the issue of restaurants and burger chains that "take the humble hamburger to the next gastronomic level."

Throughout the story, the word "gourmet" is used as a kind of shorthand for a burger concept we're seeing more and more of these days. In response to the opening of Mooyah, a burger joint in Plano, Texas, that's described as making "a higher class of burger—made from fresh (not frozen) patties, with premium toppings such as grilled onions," the publisher of a restaurant trade magazine refers to the idea as a "gourmet burger experience."

Ladies and gentlemen, that is not a "gourmet burger." That is, plain and simple, a good hamburger. If you subscribe to the notion that a "gourmet" hamburger exists (and they do—Daniel Boulud's truffle, foie gras, and braised short rib stuffed burger is an example, albeit a ridiculous one), then a burger whose patty is fresh-not-frozen and that's topped with good-quality ingredients is merely the base upon which a "gourmet" burger is built.

The U.S. is a country whose national cuisine might as well be the hamburger. How pathetic is it then that such a specimen made with fresh beef and grilled onions is considered "gourmet"?

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Tags: burgers