Grilled: John T. Edge
Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a while since we "Grilled" someone here on AHT. Sorry 'bout that. But we're back, and with a most illustrious guest indeed. John T. Edge is the author of one of AHT's favorite burger books, Hamburgers & Fries, and he's here with some fascinating burger talk—and a recipe for bacon-infused burgers. So, without further ado, let's get Grillin'
Name: John T. Edge
Location: Oxford, Mississippi
Occupation: Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, contributing editor at Gourmet magazine, and writer for various folks
How often do you eat burgers? Or did all the burger-eating you did for the book turn you off burgers altogether?
I eat more burgers now after the book than I did before. I eat them about two a week: One is a burger I cook, and the other is one someone else cooks.
Where did you eat your most recent one?
At Phillip's Grocery here in Oxford. It's a much misunderstood burger. Phillip started out in Holly Springs, Mississippi, with a burger that has linkages to the doughburgers and slugburgers in the book. It's a burger with a strange consistency at its core. It's a creamy consistency—as if there were peanut butter in it: Is there soy in there? Is there bread in there? There's some extender in there, most likely a bread-based extender, and it crisps up the burger as it cooks. I like it drenched in chili. A nice chili cheeseburger, with pickle, mustard, and onion.
It's a great burger, but it's a tell of something else—it points its way to the early days of burgers. It's a remnant of an earlier time when almost all burgers had some sort of meat extender added. You could say it's a vestigial hamburger.
Interesting. So on that chilli cheeseburger, or any burger for that matter, do you prefer American, cheddar, or other?
I don't look down my nose at the processed slice of cheese goo because it melts really well. Of late, I've been taking those blue cheese crumbles in the tubs, you know what I'm talking about? I mix those in red wine vinegar or cheap balsamic, then add some spicy brown mustard (we use Zatarin's, but any spicy brown mustard will do—anything but yellow ballpark mustard). Mix that up, and you don't need any dressing. It's kinda self-contained.
