Edible Expert, continued - The divine hamburger meets the perfect fry
I ABSOLUTELY ADORE the hamburger at Lauro Kitchen on SE Division. Sometimes when I really can’t stand the thought of cooking for myself, I’ll head to Lauro for the burger and fries. It is one of my all-time favorite meals. We shared Dave Machado’s tips on how to make the perfect burger in the Summer issue of Edible Portland (See "The Divine Hamburger"), but we didn’t have room for his thoughts on fries! Read on for more musings – about fries and childhood adventures and first jobs that all include the classic American meat patty – from Lauro Kitchen’s Dave Machado.
–Deborah Kane
Dave's youth
As a young man, I moved to San Francisco and became a regular at an Italian counter joint called Little Joe’s. Joe’s was in North Beach, and you always had to wait in line for a seat. They served a massive hamburger – at least a half pound of ground beef molded with chopped onions and served on a French roll with melted Provolone cheese. I often washed this down with a glass of California Burgundy. What a perfect combination.
In 1985 I enrolled at the California Culinary Academy and secured a part-time job cooking at the famous Balboa Café. My job? Flipping gourmet burgers and dropping crisp shoestring French fries for San Francisco’s society set. I lasted a few months and then quit after a humbling shift: I cooked over 150 burgers in the hours following a San Francisco 49ers football victory.
My Balboa flameout did not discourage me from becoming a chef nor dampen my love of the hamburger. Why such devotion to the humble hamburger? It might be that the hamburger represents to us, as Americans, one of the most emotionally satisfying gastronomic experiences that we can partake of. The preparation and eating of a well made burger can be a deeply stirring and evocative act.
Burger history
Where did it all start? Common hamburger folklore tells us the hamburger is an offspring of the “chopped steak” favored by German immigrants who came to the U.S. from Hamburg in the early 19th century.
Around the turn of the 20th century, three separate claims of authentic origination flare up. The first comes from the followers of “Hamburger Charlie” Nagreen. They claim that he sold the first hamburger at a fair in Seymour, Wisconsin. Supporters of Louis Lassen, however, boast that the Connecticut proprietor of Louis’ Lunch near the campus of Yale University served the first American beef patty. Attendees of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis recall that Mr. Davis of Texas and Mr. Menches of Ohio both were there peddling the original American hamburger.
Mirroring the inexhaustible American appetite for religious fervor and renewal, a hamburger “Great Awakening” sprang forth in the early 1920s with the opening of the first White Castle in Wichita, Kansas. After WWII, the epicenter of the hamburger industry shifted westward when a San Bernardino-based hamburger stand called McDonald’s rode the cultural shockwaves from the explosion of automobile culture in California. Ray Kroc began franchising the McDonald’s brand in the early 1950s, and 14 billion burgers later, the story is well known.
Finally, the French fry
The classic accompaniment to the perfect hamburger is, of course, the French fry. This should be homemade and never frozen, and it is well worth the effort to peel and cut Russet potatoes by hand. To make perfect fries, first peel and hand cut the potatoes to the desired width. Place in cold water for several hours, drain and then dry well. Blanche in vegetable oil at 325 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, but do not add any color to the potatoes. Let the potatoes rest and cool and then cook again at 375 degrees until they exhibit a golden color and crisp texture.
Comments
THANK YOU for sharing this recipe! The Lauro cheeseburger is THE best in town.
Just a week or two ago the NY Times ran an article on how to make the perfect hamburger at home from scratch and this recipe captures all the high points they shared plus a few nice little secret ingredients that sound like the perfect fit!
For my part though, I'd much rather pay a few bucks to have the awesome staff at Lauro's make it for me. Totally worth it!
Posted by: Amanda | June 20, 2007 12:30 PM
Last night my friend and I biked over to Lauro to split one of their cheese burgers. From this article, I expected something mouthwatering, something to swoon over. My expectations were blown. First, hats off Mr. Machado: a juicy, perfectly seared burger that isn't so thick and sloppy that it's impossible to fit into your mouth. It's true, the burger was so delicious that I can almost taste the garlicky beef when I close my eyes.
There is magic in eating something you've tasted hundreds of times before, and realizing that for the first time you're eating it exactly as it's always dreamed of being. I wonder: can someone tell me where in Portland I can find the same feeling of full satisfaction in a roast beef sandwich?
What made me sad? That I couldn't eat my fries fast enough, so some got cold. And that the cheese didn't stick in my memory, that its flavor fell a little short. Otherwise, a burger as beautiful as the burgers that dance in my dreams.
Posted by: Lola | June 22, 2007 1:08 AM