Tuesday, October 6, 2015

How to destroy a hamburger

Holy Wimpy! Do you see what awful things are  happening to hamburgers these days?

The TV ads hype the  primal sandwich doused with whatever and a mile-high topping of French fries, bacon, avocados, cheese, pasta,  sweet onions, tomatoes and chips.  It is sometimes fitted with seedy grains, veggies, quinoa and I don't know what else.

I grew up with a steady Sunday diet  of raw kibbee,   ground meat patties that my mother proudly served with olive oil and onions. It was a prized entree that some queesy witnesses warned would lead to death from tapeworms by age 25.  Still,  I can't stomach the commercial trickery that buries the pretentious burgers of today.

So I must live with my memory of lunches at Ray's  modest grill in La Porte, Ind.  I worked there in my first   newspaper job.  Ray's hamburgers were pressed on a sizzling (greasy?) grill that formed a crispy coat on both sides.  For that exquisite treat plus a large soda and Ray's boysenberry pie, the tab was less than a dollar, which is all I had in my  pocket anyway. And I could fully savor  the meat  with every bite.

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