Posted by Nick Solares, October 9, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting of the new "Black Label" burger blend from Pat La Frieda organized by The Feedbag, Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky's triumphant return to daily blogging.
The Black Label blend is aimed at high-end restaurants and features an intoxicating mix of skirt, brisket, short rib, and a secret cut that is actually dry aged! It has an extremely generous 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio, making for an ethereally succulent burger.
The blend will be sold in numbered batches, to restaurants only, for a premium price: $11.99 per pound, says La Frieda's Mark Pastore. Expect the price of a burger from this blend to be north of $20, probably well north.
Unlike other fancy-pants burgers, the price of this one may actually be justified. As tasting attendee Brett Reichler of restaurant group B.R. Guest noted "Hey, it’s dry-aged steak at half the price. In this day and age that’s not a bad thing."
Indeed, when I got to the event, George "Hamburger America" Motz suggested I smell the patty. The funky, earthy, mineral-rich tang of dry-aged beef was unmistakable. And it translated into the finished product, the taste of which evoked nothing less than prime steak.
You can read Ozersky's full account over at The Feedbag
That picture above looks like burning flare-ups to me. I find it very difficult to do a great flame-grilled burger with a high fat content. Fat drips, catches on fire, leaving those acrid sooty deposits on the patty. Even good places like Burger Joint that do flame-grilled, high-fat burgers often have that problem.
I prefer flamed vs griddled... Reminds me of a good ol' American backyard bbq. Most of us are waiting with flippers in hand on when can the public buy these or any other La Freida burgers??? They should have a retail butcher shop right there inside their place!!! Build it and and they will come!!! I know Market table use to sell their burgers but I'm not sure if they still do??
Alright fancy pants burger chefs let's not go crazy here with the brioche buns, crazy toppings and kooky sauces. This is a thing of power. Choose wisely...
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Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting of the new "Black Label" burger blend from Pat La Frieda organized by The Feedbag, Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky's triumphant return to daily blogging.
6 Comments:
Too bad they were flame-grilled. Would love to try a griddled version!
Adam Kuban at 12:12PM on 10/09/08
Unless you burn it. You can't make a bad flame grilled hamburger.
eatorama at 12:18PM on 10/09/08
That picture above looks like burning flare-ups to me. I find it very difficult to do a great flame-grilled burger with a high fat content. Fat drips, catches on fire, leaving those acrid sooty deposits on the patty. Even good places like Burger Joint that do flame-grilled, high-fat burgers often have that problem.
I wonder how Burger King avoids it... :)
kenjialtci at 12:22PM on 10/09/08
I prefer flamed vs griddled... Reminds me of a good ol' American backyard bbq. Most of us are waiting with flippers in hand on when can the public buy these or any other La Freida burgers??? They should have a retail butcher shop right there inside their place!!! Build it and and they will come!!! I know Market table use to sell their burgers but I'm not sure if they still do??
burgerboy at 1:10PM on 10/09/08
Alright fancy pants burger chefs let's not go crazy here with the brioche buns, crazy toppings and kooky sauces. This is a thing of power. Choose wisely...
JudgeFudge at 1:34PM on 10/09/08
@JudgeFudge: +1. As I like to say, "Just because you have a Ferrari doesn't mean you're Sammy Hagar."
@Kenjialtci: Burger King does it by applying Liquid Smoke laboratory seasonings to the burgers and cooking them in a microwave. HAHAHAH.
Adam Kuban at 6:59PM on 10/09/08