A HARTE APPETITE: NOTHING BEATS A GREAT BURGER

In some countries cows are sacred. Here, it's the hamburger. While Germany has its sausages and Austria its schnitzels, in the United States the burger is king.

Nearly 6 billion hamburgers were sold in American restaurants last year. In fact, five of the biggest restaurant chains in the country have hamburgers at the core of their menu. McDonald's alone has sold enough burgers to feed the world a dozen times over. Given this popularity, it's not surprising that in Texas, a state where they take burgers seriously, official records show that nearly a third of inmates sentenced to death choose a hamburger for their last meal.

Even professional chefs crave burgers. As Marcel Desaulniers, executive chef at Williamsburg's Trellis Restaurant, observes in his award-winning cookbook on the subject, "I am amazed at how often food conversations with my colleagues invariably turn from what is 'in' to what is personally preferred. The food most widely proclaimed as the choice away from work is a burger. . . ."

Clearly, John Mariani was correct to write in the Dictionary of Food and Drink that "hamburgers, along with hot dogs, are considered the most identifiably American of food items. . . ." Moreover, burgers have been outselling hot dogs since the 1940's.

Despite our nation's love affair with the burger, as Jeffrey Tennyson points out in his book, "Hamburger Heaven: The Illustrated History of the Hamburger," its origins are embroiled in controversy. Its roots can easily be traced back to the nomadic tribes of Tartary in 13th century Asia who invented steak tartare by placing raw beef fillets under their horses' saddles where it got pounded and minced as they rode into battle. And it is clearly a descendant of Hamburg Steak, a broiled chopped steak brought to this country and popularized by immigrants from Hamburg, Germany, in the 19th century. But it is not so clear who first thought of placing the hamburger patty between slices of bread. No fewer than four people lay claim to that distinction.

First, there is Louis Lassen who supposedly, on a moment's notice, created a sandwich of thinly sliced steak trimmings and bread for a rushed customer at his New Haven, Conn., luncheonette in 1900. Then there is Charlie Nagreen ("Hamburger Charlie") of Seymour, Wis., who is said to have invented the first burger in 1885 at his ox-drawn concession stand at the Outgamie County Fair in response to customers wanting to wander the fairgrounds and eat lunch at the same time. Similarly, Frank Menches of Akron, Ohio, is often credited with creating the hamburger at the county fair there, only in this case somewhat by accident. When he was unable to get sausage for his popular sandwiches, as a last resort he substituted ground beef. (By the way, even if Menches isn't the real father of the hamburger, his place in culinary history is still secure. He also invented the ice cream cone.)

And finally there is Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas, who is most frequently cited as the man responsible for the debut of the burger -- at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. He garnered the attention of the New York press when he and his wife opened up for business on the midway.

Whoever it was that begat the burger, the major credit for popularizing it belongs to Billy Ingram, who along with his business partner J. Walter Anderson (quite likely the inventor of the hamburger bun) founded the country's first hamburger chain, White Castle. As history professor David Gerard Hogan remarks in his recent book on the subject, "Selling 'Em By The Sack," that "it could be said that what Henry Ford did for the car and transportation, Billy Ingram did for the hamburger sandwich and eating."

White Castle upgraded the image of the burger and legitimized it through its hundreds of restaurants designed after Chicago's famous Water Tower. And though other chains have overshadowed it, there are millions of Americans, like myself, who are still passionate about "belly bombers," as White Castle burgers are affectionately called. For example, Kim Bartley, marketing director for the firm, tells about one customer who has a provision in his will calling for White Castles to be served at his funeral. I have no question that he is of sound mind.

But allegiances to fast-food burgers notwithstanding, there is nothing like the burger you make yourself, as most of us rediscover around this time of year. Thus, The National Cattlemen's Beef Association reports that during the summer months more than 50 percent of Americans grill out at least once a week. Doubtless they often grill hamburgers.

But, as Stephanie Witt Sedgwick of the Washington Post notes, making a simple hamburger can be a complex task. Partly this is because barbecue grills produce uneven heat that is difficult to gauge. The result, she says, is often "more hockey puck than patty." Then, too, as Bill Jamison, co-author of the book, "Born to Grill," points out, backyard cooks often take a rather casual approach to cooking. "You would never turn an oven to any old temperature, not measure it, stick something in to cook, walk away and not look at it until you thought it was done," he remarks. Yet this is precisely what many do when they grill.

Sedgwick offers several tips for making great burgers. First and foremost, start with the right meat. If too lean, you'll be guaranteed a dry burger. Sedgwick recommends no less than 15 percent fat and ideally 24 percent. If you find that much fat hard to stomach, as I do, you can use a trick I first learned from Cape Girardeau barbecue maven, the late Charlie Knote. He understood that the heat of a grill can evaporate lots of moisture from a burger and, typical of Charlie, he knew exactly how much -- 111 ml. per pound. So to compensate he recommended adding about 6 tablespoons of water to each pound of meat before cooking. I've discovered that you can produce much the same effect by mixing a similar amount of crushed ice with the hamburger. Sedgwick also recommends grinding your own meat, a step which, I agree, is well worth the trouble. It's also best to season the meat beforehand. Salt won't draw out moisture if it's applied just a few minutes before cooking.

In addition, there are some things you shouldn't do. First, don't compact the burger tightly. This will just make it more dense and dry. Second, don't make the burgers too big. They'll become burned on the outside waiting for the inside to get cooked. Sedgwick recommends burgers no bigger than six ounces, but as one who fondly recalls downing a full pound burger at a restaurant in Arizona some years ago (I still have the souvenir picture to prove it), I think an eight-ounce burger is manageable. (That's still a lot smaller than the Guinness record holder for the biggest burger ever made, a 5,000 pound one cooked on a grill the size of a two-car garage.) Third, don't press down on the burgers as they cook. This just squeezes more moisture out of them. And fourth, don't eyeball the burgers for doneness. Use an instant thermometer to make sure they are cooked to a safe 160 degrees.

Finally, remember that, despite the advertising war between McDonald's and Burger King a few years ago, some chefs, such as Charles Kimball, founder of Cooks Illustrated magazine, believe that a pan-cooked burger is superior to one done on the grill. I know they can be just as good, especially if topped with cheese. (Three restaurants, by the way, one in California, one in Kentucky, and one in Colorado, claim to have invented the cheeseburger.) One technique I've found useful for enhancing burgers cooked in a skillet was inspired by the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club's famous salt steak cookout. I sprinkle a light layer of coarse salt over the pan and let it start to smoke before placing the burgers on top.

Try these suggestions in the following recipes, all designed, as Jimmy Buffet might say, to take you to burger paradise.

Missouri Sirloin and Blue Cheese Burger

This recipe adapted from Marcel Desaulniers' book, "The Burger Meisters," a collection of burger recipes from America's best chefs, was developed by Bill Cardwell of St. Louis restaurant fame. I have doubled the amount of blue cheese originally called for. Cardwell's serves the burger on cornmeal black pepper bread.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

2 ounces blue cheese

salt and pepper to taste

4 slices (1 oz.) white cheddar cheese

8 crisp slices bacon

tomato relish

Directions:

Form meat into 8 patties. Make an indentation in the center of 4 patties and fill each with a 1/2-ounce ball of blue cheese. Top each with another patty and seal edges. Grill or saut82 until done. Top each burger with cheddar and bacon and serve on bun with tomato relish.

New American Bistro Burgers

This recipe, adapted from Rick Rodgers book, "365 Ways to Cook Hamburger and Other Ground Meats," is admittedly trendy, but it still satisfies the basic hamburger craving.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pounds lean ground lamb or sirloin

3 tablespoons pesto

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 ounces goat cheese, cut into 8 slices

Directions:

Mix meat, pesto, Parmesan, salt, and pepper and form into 4 patties and grill. Thirty seconds before done, top each burger with 2 slices of cheese. Serve with Arugula on toasted sourdough French bread.

Chicago Beer Burger

This recipe, also from Desaulniers' book, is the creation of Carlyn Berghoff of the famous Chicago restaurant family. Any beer will work, but I prefer something fairly dark. On the assumption that you can't have too much of a good thing, Berghoff recommends serving the burgers with onions that have been braised in beer.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck

2 tablespoons beer

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

4 slices (1/2-ounce) brick cheese

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except cheese and form into 6 patties. Grill or saut82 until done. Top with cheese and serve on toasted buns.

Got a culinary question you'd like to ask or an idea you'd like to see treated in this column? Send your suggestions to A Harte Appetite, c/o The Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by E-mail to thartesemovm.semo.edu.