Anyone can make a hamburger, and they all taste pretty much the same.
Now that grilling season is officially here, the ground beef will be hitting the grill. So how can you make yours stand out?
Here’s a mantra to remember: It isn’t the burger, it’s what you put on top of it. A hamburger is just a hamburger, but a bacon-cheeseburger is an event.
The right toppings can be transformative; they are like the perfect diamond broach on a simple black dress. They are like the chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherry on top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
The best hamburger I think I’ve ever had was at the Deluxe Burger Bar, in College Station, Texas. The hamburger itself was fine — it was a hamburger, and they all taste pretty much the same — but the toppings were superb. It was called a Fiesta Burger, or some such, and it was topped with guacamole, salsa and maybe slices of jalape?o.