Throwing It Back
"Nostalgia" Burger
Cast Iron Skillet-Grilled Burger mixed with Egg, Peppers, Onions, on White Bread
Cheeseboro Kitchens is about creating the nostalgia-evocative foods and flavors of my youth and repurposing them into dishes mor amenable to the modern-day palate and appreciation. But to do so I must often dip fully back into the source meals that I then hope inspire me more creatively.
Yet sometimes I like to leave a memory "as is", so to speak, and at times like to enjoy a meal — from my long ago past — as close as possible to the experience of enjoying it in my youth.
To that end, I today decided faithfully recreated the burger most commonly consumed in the neighborhood(s) I grew up in, where many families didn't have large budgets for even basic foods, so even ground beef for burgers would be "stretched" with the addition of egg, and given more body and flavor by mixing in chopped green peppers and onions.
Even day-old bakery kaiser rolls were regarded as "extravagant", so the same sliced white bread we used for toast and sandwiches were or buns — ketchup our only condiment.
And they were damn tasty, though it might have taken a while for us young 'uns to negotiate getting through the entire burger while the bottom white bread disintegrated from any escaped liquids from the burger patty.
As with most comfort foods, they are born out of not just necessity, but become memorable and iconic when made people who do their very best, even with the very little they have, to take care of their families, to keep them fed and happy.
When it comes to my all-time favorite eats, they are born out of the foods that nurtured me not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, even spiritually as well. When it comes to my favorite foods, tradition is love, and love is delicious.
