Yesterday, my wife brought hamburgers home from a work function. They were perfectly fine as far as hamburgers go, and I’m not one to turn down free food, but if I could have changed one thing about them, it’s that I would have had them rare (they were well-done).
I gussied them up with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce and spicy mustard, but the foundation of the perfect burger is — and will always be — patties cooked either rare or medium-rare, depending on the meat blend. This necessarily rules out poultry, which, while tasty in its many forms, cannot match the depth and earthiness of the larger animals.
Those of you who think they prefer beef well-done, you’re wrong. I’m not saying your feelings are incorrect, but that you’ve misidentified your feelings, because eating burgers or steak cooked to the modern American definition of “well-done” strips it (sorry) of all tender, juicy pleasure.
Such wisdom has, happily, prevailed upon my wife since we began living together, a major development given that she grew up in a well-done household. And so the above-embedded story by Adam Gopnik about cooking meat well-done versus rare carries a little extra meaning for us.
Set aside some time to listen, because it’s about so much more than just cooking meat to its ideal temperature.
(Image cc-licensed: "Peppercorn Beef Shoulder Filet Steak" by Michael Johnson)
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