What makes a burger a burger?
Today at lunch I had a "salmon burger". It consisted of a cooked piece of salmon broken into small pieces, combined with seasoning, shaped into a burger and put between two pieces of bread. To me, this is not a burger. I think a non-beef burger can exist, but the meat has to be ground and packed into a patty before cooking. Thoughts?
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3 Comments:
This is something I've wrestled with vis-à-via A Hamburger Today. My solution there is to NOT cover anything other than ground-beef burgers. But that's a bit of a cop-out, I suppose. The nonpurist in me will concede that a "burger" could be of other ground meats, shaped into a patty and put on a bun. The question then becomes Which meats are acceptable? For some reason, lamb seems like a valid and noble candidate, but any type of fish does not. Turkey, though popular, has never really crossed my radar as a true burger, however, and I don't know if I'd ever include a turkey burger in the coverage on AHT. Pork, though, might be worthy. I guess it's a very gray area.
Adam Kuban at 5:22PM on 02/08/07
I'm with you, but the boundaries on what can be called a burger has expanded way beyond our definition. Look at Daniel Boulud's burger at DB. It's got foie gras and short ribs. It's a burger because he was inspired by the burgers he has eaten in the US. It is on a bun, though.
Ed Levine at 5:25PM on 02/08/07
Ground cow + two slices of bread or bread-like product = minimum standard for burger. All other protiens, veggie cardboards or fungi between bread or bread-like product are sandwiches. I think there should be some respect for the language. There is no such thing to me as a "Chicken" or "Pork" burger. "Turkey" burger sounds good too... but really... unless you are watching your wasteline or other medical issue... who are you kidding?
Husband at 9:56PM on 02/08/07