Can we call them something different?
Quite often on SE I see some real quality small hamburgers
being called 'Sliders'. Am I the only one bothered by this?
I know that the term 'Slider' has come to mean a small hamburger by most people these days. My understanding of a 'Slider' is quite different.
I grew up with the square, steamed low quality burger with minced onion (you all know the places I'm talking about). While these are tasty & I still get a craving for them sometimes, one trip every 2 or 3 years reminds me of why we call them 'Sliders'; They slide in ya, you get stomach cramps & then you get the poops! 'Slide out!
Not the sort of thing to be proud of.
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14 Comments:
You must have missed this excellent entry by Adam Kuban.
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/09/a-guide-to-glossary-of-regional-american-burger-cheeseburger-styles-and-cooking-methods.html
SqueezeBottle at 10:37PM on 10/08/09
@tinytim-your definition of a "slider" is exactly the same as mine.
dmcavanagh at 6:14AM on 10/09/09
I had never heard of sliders until 5-6 years ago, and now everything seems to be a slider when you look at commercials, from pint-sized Kobe burgers to the bun-grey meat-onion burgers sold at Krystal/White Castle.
Other than childhood memories, I don't see the attraction to those burgers. People at my husband's old workplace raved about WC and drove there every day. :x
I love that description of a slider. LOL
Cassaendra at 7:56AM on 10/09/09
Sliders = White Castle = nothing remotely resembling a hamburger.
However, after reading Adam's tutorial on burgers, I'll relent and give these slippery, mushy bits of urban fast food a place on the list. If he says it's OK, that's all the convincing I need.
Alas, Tiny Tim, the word "slider" has become as generic as "napoleon" to describe anything layered. I could scream. Eventually, "slider" will cease to mean what it really means and be absorbed into the vernacular as "any hamburger of diminutive size."
therealchiffonade at 8:23AM on 10/09/09
@chiff: They sort of are a different category in my mind, though I'd still shelve them with "burgers." A slider won't do if you're craving a thick, juicy burger — and vice versa. I'd still classify them as burgers b/c historically, via White Castle, the slider is what helped popularize the burger in the U.S. Until WC, burgers were thought of as disgusting food for the down-and-out and there was a lot of concern over what was in ground beef ... hmm, so glad that's not the case today ;) Anyway, White Castle turned things around with the "white" thing — buildings were stainless steel and white tile to connote cleanliness, and the burgers were cooked in front of you so you could see what was going on. This, combined with the cheapness, helped them catch on, and WC spread like wildfire — and many imitators sprang up in the late '20s and '30s. WWII essentially was the beginning of hte decline for WC, and when McD's ran with the fast-food concept in the late '50s, it was a game-changer. But essentially, they were just building on a market that WC. [All this info is basically a summary of an excellent book on White Castle — Selling 'em by the Sack.]
For me, they really are a sort of whatshisname ... Proust ... a Proustian madeleine thing, since they remind me of childhood roadtrips with my family. As I've said before, the main reason I started A Hamburger Today was to actually write about sliders.
Anyway, I try, try, try to keep the use of "slider" to a minimum around the SE blogs when it's simply being used as a term for "tiny hamburger", because I do draw a distinction. But sometimes a reference or two slips through. :(
Adam Kuban at 10:29AM on 10/09/09
Calling mini burgers the S word is a pet peeve of mine. I was on a mission to boycott all places serving anything called that but since damn near everywhere does, that is not possible. I don't see why places can't just say "mini hamburger".
elisaday at 11:50AM on 10/09/09
I'd be willing to call them "little hamburgers." Not that I ever order them in a restaurant, not that they come up too often in conversation in my life...but if they do, I will now refer to them as "little hamburgers." For some reason, I prefer "little" to "tiny."
Kerosena at 12:02PM on 10/09/09
@tinytim:
Sliders to me are cheap park hot dogs!
I could be wrong: but isn't is white castle that started the 'slider' term?
mini burgers to me are mini burgers :)
hungrychristel at 1:27PM on 10/09/09
We call them sliders because they go down easy in a couple of bites.
But there's always someone looking to the gross out group, huh.
CJ McD at 2:14PM on 10/09/09
@TinyTim - You are preaching to the choir, man! AMEN!
GretchinF at 5:22PM on 10/09/09
Thanks for sharing tiny:-)
janaatwg at 6:00PM on 10/09/09
I will now call all food that has that effect on me, Slider Food.
smokey07 at 11:29AM on 10/10/09
@SqueezeBottle
Thanks for sharing Adams' excellent post on this subject from last year.
I was on vacation when that was posted & as usual he's right spot on.
tinytim at 9:04PM on 10/13/09
Thank you! It is a peeve of mine up there with "veggies" which marginalizes the most important part of out diet.
Maria S at 12:45PM on 11/17/09