George Motz - The Great American Burger Book: How to Make Authentic Regional Hamburgers at Home

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY MAMA:

Thanks for making it look so easy

And to the rest of my loving, food-crazy family

CONTENTS

BY ANDREW ZIMMERN

FOREWORD

ANDREW ZIMMERN

Food is good. Food with a story is better. Food with a story you havent heard before is best of all. Hold that thought.

I stand for many things: Im a globalist, and a regionalist, but I am first and foremost a New Yorker, which means I was weaned on great hamburgers served in bars, without lettuce or tomato anywhere near them. P.J. Clarkes and J.G. Melonthose were the burger joints my father took me to.

Evenings were always at Melons. My dad had his Dewars scotch, into which Billy always poured just the right-size splash of soda. Bobby always gave us a great table. I was in awe of my father at Melons. He was the master of his domain, saying hi to our friends and neighbors, all the while pounding those crisp, griddled, and rare burgers, served plain. Always with a side of cottage fries that poofed when you cooked them. Lunches were at P.J. Clarkes, taken quickly around the corner from his office. Same style burgers. But Clarkes changed over the years. Went commercial. Sad.

Burgers at Melons are still beefy and well crusted, they taste of the bowed and broken griddle and the steer. They run their exquisite juices into the bun quickly, so that the bun is always toasted and crisped on the inside to give the burger a fighting chance of holding together. Burgers with my dad were special, the way it is when youre a kid: A rare opportunity to be a man when youre really only a child.

I had my first drink with my dad over a burger. I took my first girlfriend to Melons for a burger. I got into my first fistfight over a burger therea girl may have been involved. I got dumped there, too. Twice. Well, more than twice, actually.

I can measure my life in Melons burgers if I so desire. For me, theyre seminal.

Which is why this book is so important. Part historical reference, part recipe book, it doesnt get religious about either. Rather than argue the cultural-authenticity screed, or prattle on about whose burger is better, George Motz celebrates them all, the diversity of Americas greatest food obsession. The regional charm and the warm memories speak to all of us, because your burger is in here, too.

Im a food guy because of my dad, just a paler version of him. I dont live in New York City anymore, so I only get a burger at Melons a few times a year. Every burger I ever bite into makes me think of my dad; so do the green-and-white checkered tablecloths, those poofy potatoes, and that spinach salad. And those nights I got drunk at Melons, with all those fabulous women who for some crazy reason went on a date with meI can see their faces, I can remember their names and how they kissed. Food reminds me of my life; its powerful that way.

Which is why Ive made it my business to eat your burger. The one that does that same thing for you, and thank the sweet baby Jesus that George loves them even more and has collected this incredible all-star cast of archetypes.

Hamburgers are deliciously regional. I am sure there are readers who will dote on the pages dedicated to the Maid-Rite of Iowa in ways I can never fully appreciate. But I know in every fiber of my soul that the Maid-Rite plucks at your heartstrings, and I felt some of that when I had my first one twenty-five years ago.

I remember my first trip to Milwaukee, strolling into Sollys, biting into a butter burger for the first time, a real one, with a dollop of salted butter melting over the hot burger, its slippery-slidey life snuffed out when the top bun was placed on it, trapping happiness on the inside. Its carnal pleasure was released with my first bite. The regional diversity of American foods is the source of our stories, our collective culture, and our communal joy. It needs to be shared.

Look, Ive had burgers steamed in Connecticut, fried in Tennessee, enrobed in Hatch green chiles in New Mexico (at Bobcat Bite, before they closed after a near seventy-year run), gone Loco-Moco in Hawaii, and of course Jucy Lucy-ed in Minnesota, where I live now. For my son, thats a real hamburger. For me, its someone elses story, well, his actually. And when hes old enough to appreciate it I will show him a real burger at J.G. Melons, because that ones mine.

George Motz is my friend, and I struggled with this assignment; I didnt want it to seem like a favor, or false flattery. But I think this book is a gorgeous rendering of America, seen through the hamburgers of our sons and daughters, of you and yours. These are our stories, all valid, all delicious, all important to someone somewhere.

Through them we see ourselves, and I know you will see yourself in here and be moved, and made joyful, because food with a story works that way. And if you havent eaten all these burgers or heard of some of them, I am exceedingly jealous, because food with a story you havent heard about is best of all.

INTRODUCTION

A REGIONAL ODYSSEY

Across America, burger diversity abounds. The unique flavors and textures of our best burgers run deep, and they begin with the regional methods by which the burgers are cooked, well before toppings (both traditional and far-out) are introduced. In my many years of research around the country I have discovered that burgers can be smoked, stuffed, smashed, steamed, deep-fried, grilled, breaded, and poachedvery different cooking methods that all produce wonderful results. They are mouthwatering variations on a theme.

A number of cookbooks have been written about the hamburger, arguably Americas favorite food. But these tend to focus on the myriad sauces and toppings that can be applied to a standard patty. Rarely is cooking method discussed in depth. This new cookbook explores the roots of the American hamburger and the steps required to bring regional methods into your home. I have experimented with all the different ways a burger can be cooked, topped, and presented, and I am excited to share my discoveries with the adventurous home cook.

Making great burgers requires careful attention to detail. Even preparing the most basic of burgers takes well-chosen ingredients, a few specific tools, and a bit of practice. I will cover all of this territory, and also aim to open your mind to a wide range of regional burger styles. With just a modest amount of trial and error, you should be able to make your regional hamburger dreams come true.

The hamburger should not be a complicated thing. Like a haiku, the best burgers benefit from an imposed limitation of form. The one ingredient paramount to all others is the beef, the foundation of a great burger. The fewer the ingredients and toppings, the more the beefiness of your burger can shine. All of the recipes and methods in this book bring the emphasis back to the flavor of beef. So dont look for any tuna burgers (gasp), turkey burgers, or other such variations here. To the burger purist, anything but beef is just a distraction, a gimmick. (Ive made one exception at the end of the book, a beet burger that tops any non-beef burger Ive ever tried.)

For years I have considered it my duty to preserve the sanctity of the All-American burger. With my first book,