If dogs could speak...

Sunday, July 02, 2006

A.1. or Ketchup?
Just in time for July 4th, two recent stories about hamburgers should give you food for thought as you plan your holiday barbeque. First there is a burger joint in Boca Raton, Florida that two weeks ago started serving a hamburger that they dub the "beluga caviar of sandwiches." Or "heaven on a bun" as the restaurant owner describes it (No it's not what you think, you perverts). But one thing for sure is that it does cost a lot like caviar, beluga or not. A burger at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in the Boca Raton Resort and Club goes for a cool $100. That is after you pay $40,000 upfront plus $3,000 per year to join the club.

Here are the specs for you bun aficionados: The patty is 5.5 inches across, 2.5 inches thick and combines Colorado free-range prime beef with Japanese Kobe and Argentine cattle beef. Maybe they also sprinkle some "holy cow" if you ask politely. The beef is flown in fresh from New York (there must be a secret ranch somewhere in the middle of Manhattan), then sautéed on order in grape seed oil (hand-pressed by young Italian girls wearing wide brim hats) for exactly five minutes per side then finished in an oven at 375 degrees. They didn't say, but I hope they got the Celsius and Fahrenheit right. Organic micro greens, exotic mushrooms and heirloom tomatoes are included, but fries and Pepsi are extra.

At the other extreme, a company in St Louis has just come up with a new kind of hamburger meat that offers both the health benefits of soy and the flavor and tasting chewiness of real meat. Now, don't you think they just grind some beef from Safeway together with edamame soybeans. These guys at Solae Company are applying for a patent for their hybrid meat technology, which they said took ten years of exhaustive meat research to perfect. The end product is a blend of vegetable and meat protein, and has only 2/3 the calories and 1/2 the fat of regular meat. I have a different technique for cutting calories and fat which I call "making a smaller hamburger" but never bothered with a patent.

For our barbeque, my thinking is that we will stick with chicken. Ultimately everything tastes like chicken anyway, so why make things complicated and spend more? And the threat of bird flu always adds a dose of adventure to the eating experience. But no matter beef, chicken, kangaroo, snake or soybeans, I hope you all have a great Independence Day (or Canada Day for you 51st staters).
- posted by Woofwoof @ 5:52 AM

Comments:

Woofwoof,
That is so cruel, "51st Staters?" I laughed so hard. I know a few people who should read this blog.

# posted by

Anonymous : 02 July, 2006 11:10

Connecticut,
Oh I am sure they don't mind. Actually I wasn't sure if Canada was the 51st state, or was it Iraq?

# posted by

Woofwoof : 04 July, 2006 06:45

Just good old regular burgers up here, flavored a bit with firecracker smoke. Do you need severnty-eight permits to light up a Black Cat down there?

# posted by

John : 05 July, 2006 20:51

Hi WoofWoof,

Would you mind linking to this foster dog blog that my mom started?

http://www.fosterdogsblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Indy

# posted by

IndyPindy : 07 July, 2006 17:01

John,
Fireworks were banned in this city (fear of grass fires) but that didn't stop many people. Who can pass up a chance to watch a Black Cat, or any cat, blow up?

Indy,
Will do it right now.

# posted by

Woofwoof : 08 July, 2006 09:31

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