It has the taste of the forbidden, the illicit — the subversive, even,” said Hélène Samuel, a restaurant consultant (in Paris, France). “Eating with your hands, it’s pure regression. Naturally, everyone wants it.
So quoteth the New York Times in an interesting, and to us purists, somewhat alarming piece on the rise of the hamburger as a culinary fad in Paris. We can either thank or blame French expatriates and New York chefs Daniel Boulud and Laurent Tourondel for popularizing the burger in their homeland. Their respective takes on the hamburger at Cafe Boulud and BLT Burger in New York City have inspired their fellow countrymen. “I think it’s shocking," Mr. Boulud said in the Times, "but at the same time the French are realizing that a burger is real food, it’s good."
the problem with the nytimes article was that all of the parisian burgers were super fancy burgers, haute cuisine burgers, si vous voulez. for more reasonable budgets and without all the pomp, i had an egg-burger conversion experience at le cafe du viaduc in the 12th arrondissement, near gare de lyon. the chef will not make you a cheeseburger even if you beg. "le burger a notre facon" comes with russian dressing, lettuce, tomato, and delicious, high-qualiity euro beef. the egg is cooked over medium so that the yolk forms a sexy bond with the burger. order it "saignant" ("rare") for the full flavor effect of the beef.
I don't think the burger in its conventional form would be ever appreciated in Paris without dropping the usual foie gras here and truffle butter there and turn it into something totally French but resembling something totally American. I've had kobe miniburgers from L'atelier Joel Robuchon, and they are great, but its something you want to give to your fancy looking date while you stuff your face with the real deal.
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3 Comments:
the problem with the nytimes article was that all of the parisian burgers were super fancy burgers, haute cuisine burgers, si vous voulez. for more reasonable budgets and without all the pomp, i had an egg-burger conversion experience at le cafe du viaduc in the 12th arrondissement, near gare de lyon. the chef will not make you a cheeseburger even if you beg. "le burger a notre facon" comes with russian dressing, lettuce, tomato, and delicious, high-qualiity euro beef. the egg is cooked over medium so that the yolk forms a sexy bond with the burger. order it "saignant" ("rare") for the full flavor effect of the beef.
castor_de_luxe at 9:51PM on 07/16/08
I don't think the burger in its conventional form would be ever appreciated in Paris without dropping the usual foie gras here and truffle butter there and turn it into something totally French but resembling something totally American. I've had kobe miniburgers from L'atelier Joel Robuchon, and they are great, but its something you want to give to your fancy looking date while you stuff your face with the real deal.
Q80 BurgerBelly at 4:12AM on 07/17/08
Maybe they should copy our M-16's and get into the fight in Afganistan! A French burger? What a sham.
nhfoodie at 10:10AM on 07/17/08