by Moody MacGregor

Created on: June 09, 2009

Like many of the great mysteries of life that plague minds both great and small, the question of which is the best fast food hamburger is destined to outlive us all.

Trying to discover the truth of such a matter amidst the emotional environment of fast food favouritism, secret recipes, home town bias and rose tinted memories is like searching for an honest nutritionist among the PR men on the corporate fast food payroll. Everyone has a favourite hamburger. Whether it be a Big Mc Business burger or a small town favourite, our reasons for selecting a given burger as the best vary greatly, as does the quality of burger in question. Just browse through these articles or search the internet and you will see what I mean. Some people like a small simple burger that can be eaten by the dozen, while other like gourmet burgers laced with saffron and gold, with mayonnaise made from the eggs of hummingbirds. Others you will find like everything and anything in between.

While working as a chef in a pub in New Zealand I introduced a range of homemade burgers sized for hard working men and women. The B.F.G. burger I introduced as a joke became my nightmare as word spread and it quickly became the favourite. Two homemade 160 gram beef patties, two slices of shoulder bacon, two slices of cheddar cheese, fried onions, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, pickled beetroot, with homemade mayonnaise and tomato relish inside a big grilled bun with sesame seeds on top. The poor electric grill would shudder and groan as it struggled to keep its heat while cooking order after order of over sized Big Fat Glutton burgers. I tried a few different combinations of burger, but I finally settled on a simple burger as my favourite. One grilled hamburger, with lettuce and tomato, mayonnaise, mustard and tomato sauce, inside a toasted burger bun.

One has to wonder though what makes a burger the best. Why would a customer put their head through the door and say "That was the best burger I've had in 12 years"? What was it they remember so fondly about that burger eaten 12 years earlier, that meant that no burger since could match it? To find the answer to a question like that would make a grill chef a rich man indeed. A memory like that once ingrained in a diners mind is hard to shift. Often it is the uniqueness or specialness of the moment or time in a life that seasons the hamburgers greatness in a customer's mind. Food that is connected with a treasured holiday memory, first love or the feeling of something new is unlikely ever to be knocked from its pedestal.

The fact of the matter is that there are many hamburgers in the world that can stand proud in their cardboard or Styrofoam(tm) containers, claiming to be a cut above the rest. What makes a hamburger taste like the best to one customer and not to the next however, is firmly in the taste buds of the burger holder. As for myself, as a man struggling to make enough cash to put food on the table, my favourite fast food hamburger will be the next one I eat. May the best hamburger win, and may it be a homemade beauty!

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