We almost forgot to inform you: MAY IS NATIONAL HAMBURGER MONTH!!!
Who knows how it really started. We can't find an official proclamation or inaugural year, but the idea sure seems to have taken hold — if the Google search for the term is any indication.
Seems that somewhere along the way, White Castle, arguably the nation's first burger chain, decided to "sponsor" the monthlong "holiday." Most of the online references to the promotional stunt seem to point back to the Castle, but oddly enough, there's nothing on Whitey's site mentioning it.
Official or not, AHT will take up the slack in trumpeting the Meaty Month of May. And what better month? The popularly acknowledged start of the grilling season is Memorial Day, but we'll get you started early as we dig into our archives:
Burger month indeed! How did I miss this news?! In honor of burger month, I encourage all American's to go forth and support their local burger joints by eating at least one burger per day during the month of May. Can't get a burger on Monday? No problem...just eat two on Tuesday! I personally might save all of my burgers until the last week of the month and eat myself through the best seven day stretch of my life.
National Hamburger month? I don't know about that. What I do know is that on the first of March, 2001, MARCH was declared to be HAMBURGER AWARENESS MONTH. Furthermore, Hamburger Awareness month doesn't rely on support from some heartless corporate entity, that is really only looking to shill it's merchandise. Hamburger awareness month stems from a mandate from the masses!
This is a subject I am tremendously passionate about, so I thought I would share my thoughts on what I believe makes the ultimate USA burger! 1)either 75/25 or 80/20 lean ground beef, but no less than that. Ground sirloin, although delicious, doesn't make for the "perfect" burger because it's too darned lean to be soft and flavorful like ground beef that has a little fat in it 2)the ground beef should have some seasonings mixed in the meat- I like pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, sometimes seasoning or regular salt... 3)The bun is CRITICAL- too soft and it falls apart and won't hold the large # of toppings needed to make a burger happen. On the other hand, a super hard (sourdough) bun causes everything to squirt out one end while you try to bite in the other. And like all burgers, it will be HUGE so trying to get your mouth around a giant bun will make you look like David Hasslehoff in that recent video! I have been personally a big fan of an onion-based kaiser roll that I get from the local Safeway Bakery made fresh that day. Strong enough to hold a lot of toppings but yielding enough to allow you to bite through it without everything displacing through the back of the sandwich! 4)The sauces are critical for me: NO BBQ SAUCE ON A BURGER! The ultimate burger requires: ketchup, mayo, mustard and thousand island dressing. Plain Yellow mustard is also critical, fancy mustard belongs on a ham sandwich not a burger! 5)What to top it with? Lettuce(green leaf), pickles(dill slices), onions(THIN-I mean tissue paper thin-Red Onion Slices), and BACON. Yessssss I left out the tomato, I am not a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches period. I am sure some of you out there will insist on the tomato. Just leave it off of mine thank you. Bacon takes an ordinary burger and raises it up just a particular level. Cheese is critical as well; I think if I had to have one on my "ultimate" burger it would be a thick, gooooooooooey slab of cheddar. But if people wanted to argue anything from american to monterey jack I can't aruge-- I just strongly believe that Bleu cheese has no place on a burger the same way that dijon mustard belongs on a ham sandwich. To me, the burger is an american/german thing and what does a french cheese have any place being on such a treasured piece of americana such as an ultimate burger? I have liked mushrooms on burgers as well, but with all that stuff on there you'll never be able to fit it all, and I hate to have to make a choice between these other critical ingredients vs mushrooms which I have always thought were a nice touch but not critical to making an ultimate burger...Grilled onions are fantastic but I usually save them for my patty melts which are another subject entirely! 6)The ultimate burger is always a double-decker deal with two patties. It just is because one patty is just one patty. Two patties helps make it ultimate. The burgers need to be made on a BBQ grill, not on a stove grill. They need to have "done" stripe marks on each side and indentations on them from the grill. They should be off the grill sizzling and served with fries and a coke. Man, I just made myself hungry and it's still a # of hours before lunch!
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3 Comments:
Burger month indeed! How did I miss this news?! In honor of burger month, I encourage all American's to go forth and support their local burger joints by eating at least one burger per day during the month of May. Can't get a burger on Monday? No problem...just eat two on Tuesday! I personally might save all of my burgers until the last week of the month and eat myself through the best seven day stretch of my life.
Hamburger Mega Munch at 1:20PM on 05/04/06
National Hamburger month? I don't know about that. What I do know is that on the first of March, 2001, MARCH was declared to be HAMBURGER AWARENESS MONTH. Furthermore, Hamburger Awareness month doesn't rely on support from some heartless corporate entity, that is really only looking to shill it's merchandise. Hamburger awareness month stems from a mandate from the masses!
Hamburger Sanjay Fever at 3:41AM on 03/05/07
This is a subject I am tremendously passionate about, so I thought I would share my thoughts on what I believe makes the ultimate USA burger! 1)either 75/25 or 80/20 lean ground beef, but no less than that. Ground sirloin, although delicious, doesn't make for the "perfect" burger because it's too darned lean to be soft and flavorful like ground beef that has a little fat in it 2)the ground beef should have some seasonings mixed in the meat- I like pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, sometimes seasoning or regular salt... 3)The bun is CRITICAL- too soft and it falls apart and won't hold the large # of toppings needed to make a burger happen. On the other hand, a super hard (sourdough) bun causes everything to squirt out one end while you try to bite in the other. And like all burgers, it will be HUGE so trying to get your mouth around a giant bun will make you look like David Hasslehoff in that recent video! I have been personally a big fan of an onion-based kaiser roll that I get from the local Safeway Bakery made fresh that day. Strong enough to hold a lot of toppings but yielding enough to allow you to bite through it without everything displacing through the back of the sandwich! 4)The sauces are critical for me: NO BBQ SAUCE ON A BURGER! The ultimate burger requires: ketchup, mayo, mustard and thousand island dressing. Plain Yellow mustard is also critical, fancy mustard belongs on a ham sandwich not a burger! 5)What to top it with? Lettuce(green leaf), pickles(dill slices), onions(THIN-I mean tissue paper thin-Red Onion Slices), and BACON. Yessssss I left out the tomato, I am not a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches period. I am sure some of you out there will insist on the tomato. Just leave it off of mine thank you. Bacon takes an ordinary burger and raises it up just a particular level. Cheese is critical as well; I think if I had to have one on my "ultimate" burger it would be a thick, gooooooooooey slab of cheddar. But if people wanted to argue anything from american to monterey jack I can't aruge-- I just strongly believe that Bleu cheese has no place on a burger the same way that dijon mustard belongs on a ham sandwich. To me, the burger is an american/german thing and what does a french cheese have any place being on such a treasured piece of americana such as an ultimate burger? I have liked mushrooms on burgers as well, but with all that stuff on there you'll never be able to fit it all, and I hate to have to make a choice between these other critical ingredients vs mushrooms which I have always thought were a nice touch but not critical to making an ultimate burger...Grilled onions are fantastic but I usually save them for my patty melts which are another subject entirely! 6)The ultimate burger is always a double-decker deal with two patties. It just is because one patty is just one patty. Two patties helps make it ultimate. The burgers need to be made on a BBQ grill, not on a stove grill. They need to have "done" stripe marks on each side and indentations on them from the grill. They should be off the grill sizzling and served with fries and a coke. Man, I just made myself hungry and it's still a # of hours before lunch!
Hamburger rj at 6:47PM on 05/07/07