By
Beth Green
Image by Pong/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
What
do peanut butter, cheese, beans for breakfast, maple syrup, Vegemite
and McDonald’s Big Macs have in common? They’re all fixes for
homesickness—although the remedy usually only lasts through the
final bite.
When
I was young my parents and I sailed through the Caribbean and South
Pacific on their home-built trimaran. If we were on a longer ocean
crossing—more than a few days—my mother and I would play the
“what will you eat” game. We’d sit in the cockpit watching for
flying fish and describe, in as much detail as possible, the perfect
meal for when we reached shore: strawberries, fleshy and red; milk as
white as the crest of a breaking wave; crumbly, chocolatey
Butterfinger bars. And my favorite, the cold, delicious thickness of
a chocolate milkshake.
Since
then, my tastes have changed a bit, I suppose (though it’s
difficult to imagine a world with too many chocolate milkshakes), and
the foodstuff I hanker for most when thinking of the U.S. is that
wonderful, juicy, symbol of Americana—the hamburger.
Photo by gt_pann/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
When
I lived in the States (I’m based in Southeast Asia now), I nearly
never ate a hamburger. I was a slow-food kind of girl. I’d still
whip through a McDonald’s drive-thru for a shake and possibly an
order of fries, but I kept the hamburger to a once or twice a year
maximum.
But
somehow, my various transitions around the world have given me a
slight obsession with the proper way to prepare a hamburger. This is
why it was quite distressing to find that, in China, the word
hamburger has been translated to han bao 汉堡
(sometimes
doubled to han bao bao) and the term has expanded to include all
sandwiches made with buns—even sometimes all sandwiches. Order a
hamburger in China, therefore, and occasionally it would be a ham
sandwich. Or, ask for a cheeseburger—and get a lonely Kraft single
between two slices of sweet white bread. Hold the (fruit-flavored)
mayo.
For
the record, this is how I like my hamburgers, from the top down:
Toasted
buns, topped with sesame seeds. Buns should be fluffy enough to sink
your teeth into easily, but not so fragile that the juices from the
meat leak through to your fingers.
Frilly
lettuce. Not too much. Spinach leaves acceptable.
Image: Sura Nualpradid/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Thick,
red slices of tomato. Not those skinny Roma tomatoes that fall out
onto your lap when you bite into the burger, either.
Dill
pickle slices. Leave your sweet pickles for hot dog relish, thank
you.
Mustard.
Yellow mustard is OK, but brown mustard is that much better. Hot or
fancy mustard gets more points.
Ketchup.
Not so much that it drips, but I love that sweet-and-sour taste.
Cheese
optional. If put on, it should not have come pre-wrapped and
shouldn’t be too drippy when cooked on top of the…
…medium-rare
beef patty. I am not a cook, so I can’t truly describe what I like
here—but I know it involves high quality beef, finely chopped
onion, a good twist or two of freshly ground pepper, and, I believe,
some egg yolk.
And,
then we’re down to the bun.
Did
you enjoy our little game of “what will you eat?”
Your
turn!
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