Thumbs Up Burger, Thumbs Down Fries

I had a really good hamburger yesterday, at a bakery/restaurant that used to be a church. It was a Cajun burger, with three big strips of bacon and two slices of nicely melted Swiss. The bun was firm, toasted just enough to add crunch but not crumble, and the burger itself was juicy and flavorful with the perfect texture. It was thick and oddly formed, which I liked. Everything about it said homemade with care.

But then I ate the fries.

Not the actual fries

If I wasn't in a former church, I would have said:

"Jesus Christ people, what's with the fries??"

I can't say I have much experience being in churches, but I'm pretty sure they don't like you taking their lords name in vain while you're in one. So I kept my mouth shut.

In my head, I swore like a sailor. A sailor who knows if you can make a good burger, you can make good fries.

Admittedly, steak fries aren't my favorite. I prefer a thinner fry, but I believe in variety being the spice of yadda yadda yadda and all that. I can embrace a thick fry when it's done well.

These were not done well. I'm pretty sure they were mass produced, probably purchased in a 50 pound bag marked Garden Variety Steak Fry.

I just don't get why anybody would go out of their way to make such a good, such a really really good burger, and then disrespect it by putting it on a plate with subpar fries.

It's just not right. It's insulting to the burger.

As luck would have it, Mrs. FoodGuy got a side of 1,000 Island dressing with her lunch, and it was so good it made up for the fries (when said fries were dipped in it, that is). Homemade burger, homemade 1,000, frozen fries?

Didn't make much sense to me, but then again, I was just a Jew eating a bacon burger in a church...

The Food Guy Writes

I'm now officially The Food Guy. I love food -- talking about it, cooking it, eating it. I love all kinds of food, so this blog isn't going to be some elitist (we hate elitists!) foody blather about fancy restaurants and fine wines... though I suppose I shouldn't rule that out if the mood strikes me. What I want to write about is what I love about food -- it doesn't really matter what it costs or where it came from. What matters about food is how it tastes and how it makes you feel.

So on that note, I'm going to say a few words about my favorite food: Hamburgers. I think I've eaten at least one hambuger a week for 10 or 15 years now, and in the weeks that I haven't, I've felt their absence. A hamburger is basic. It's not complicated, though you can make it complicated if you really want to. A good hamburger is juicy, flavorful, has the right toppings for the moment... When the juices drip down the side of your hand and fall from your wrist bone to the table, you know you're eating something special.

That's all I'll say about hamburgers for now. It's not much, but it's a start.