So, I was in Toronto this weekend, and ordered a burger for dinner, done medium.
Oh, it was glorious. The ground meat patty arrived on a toasted bun with the usual lettuce, onion, and tomato, as well as cheddar and mushrooms. The incredible thing about this burger, though, was that it was still pink in the middle. More than that, at the very center it was barely warm. I devoured the soft, succulent sandwich, and contemplated the laws and litagous attitude in the States that prevent restaurants from serving burgers anything less then hyper-well scorched.
I would never, ever, EVER have any ground beef that is commercially prepared anything but well done (completely cooked).
I enjoy the odd bit of steak tartar but not without preparing it myself. Mom got a nasty hit of ecoli a couple of years back from nipping at some ground beef as she was making burgers. Shitting blood for a couple of weeks in the hospital is something that she doesn’t want to go through again. Man, we thought she was going to die for a while… all because of uncooked hamburger.
Now, if I were to make it myself and ensure that the meat grinder was completely clean and disinfected, sure. But not if I didn’t see it done myself.
Ooooooooh, yeah. Medium-rare burgers and steaks. From our own cow and processed by the local award-winning* meat locker. At least, when I cook them. When my mother cooks them they come out like shoe leather** :mad:
[sub]*Yes, award-winning. Whodathunk there’s such a thing as national competitions for which meat locker makes the best summer sausage, jerky, or hot dogs?
**Which is odd, cos she’s a GREAT cook; she just cooks steaks and burgers into oblivion. The weirdo [/sub]
