I'm not going to give a BurgerDAR score to burgers made by friends out of a desire to keep them as friends, even if they insist. I feel that the BurgerDAR is both an analytical tool and one that implicitly imposes judgement, which is fair game for a restaurant but a little much for a civilian. Eating burgers at friends - especially given how many of our friends are foodies - should be about the exploration of food.
Now let's get down to the burger. It was a mix of ground pork and turkey, grilled/smoked on a Big Green Egg with a bit of onion and garlic in the meat. It was topped with a smoky homemade traditional barbeque sauce and two-year old cheddar, and served on a flat bun. I added lettuce, a thin slice of red onion, and Christine's homemade red onion marmalade.
Ron didn't name it, so I did: "The Booth Street Binary;" Booth Street for their neighbourhood, and binary both because the burger is made of two meats and Ron works in computers. So it works on three levels (meats, computers, and two references), creating a paradox that invalidates the wittiness of the name. I won't dwell on this paradox; after all, this blog is not called "Mike Likes Paradoxes."
Because of a low fat content relative to typical lean beef, turkey can get pretty dry. The pork helped somewhat, and the barbeque sauce took care of the rest. Top it off with the marmalade, moisture was not a problem. The wood chips at the bottom of the Egg imparted an incredible smokiness to the meat that was highlighted by the sauce and matched perfectly by the salty cheese. Raw onion and the marmalade balanced the burger out.
I have a soft spot for flat buns. While they don't soak up juices as well as a thicker bun, for a thicker, drier meat combination like the Booth Street Binary, it was a perfect choice.
All in all, I would say it was a successful first burger step in my journey of a thousand burgers.
No comments:
Post a Comment