There is, admittedly, a certain genius to the hamburger. Swarthy beef, a bittersweet char, the cool crisp snap of lettuce — it”s just about the perfect sandwich.
Or it would be, if we added a pickle, say, or onions. And maybe a dollop of special sauce …
Almost from the beginning, it seems, short order cooks and great chefs alike have tried to improve on the ground beef patty. The cheeseburger was introduced in the 1920s. Fluffy buns replaced common white bread not long after. Since then the once-humble burger has been weighted down with everything from onion rings to foie gras.
The turning point came in 1963, at least according to the A&W Root Beer chain. Origin stories are notoriously difficult to pin down with any certainty, but in that year they claim an employee named Dale Mulder built the first bacon cheeseburger.
That”s right, bacon.
“Bacon adds a nice sweetness and smoke to the burger,” observed Jose Witrow of Pit Stop in North Lakeport, where they fry up something called the 50/50.
Yep, half regular old ground beef, half ground up hickory smoked bacon. Prepared in house from the grinder, molded by hand and slapped on the grill, the combination is indeed sweet and acrid, but with a husky, rough-hewn savor.
The experience is striking at first. The bacon asserts itself for a moment before settling down and finding the kind of compromise with the beef that makes this burger so popular. By the end, it seems relatively normal, a simple and comforting sandwich.
“The flavors work together nicely,” Witrow said.
By incorporating ground bacon into the burger, it becomes a constant, more persistent than if one had just balanced a couple of strips on top of the patty.
Pit Stop introduced the 50/50 about a year ago. The staff — just a two person staff, granted — experimented with the creation for some time before declaring success, since bacon and beef finish at different times. They learned to tone down the grill, edging toward ”slow and low,” surrendering the familiar blackened char of the burger to ensure the bacon bubbled up nicely.
“They were a pain at first,” Witrow admitted. “But they are really juicy, really moist.”
Of course, Pit Stop did not invent the 50/50 burger. A southern California institution called Slater”s claims to have created the “world”s first” half and half not all that long ago in 2009 — not even a blink in archaeological time.
The SoCal chain has already doubled the amount of bacon involved in a burger, ramping it up to 100 percent. Other fiendish short order cooks are working on replacing the bun, lettuce and condiments with crisped pork, as well.
Maybe one day they will push too far. For Witrow and the folks at Pit Stop a mound of grilled onion, some lettuce, tomato and pickle, topped by melting Swiss cheese is enough. Halfway, in other words, is far enough when trying to perfect the hamburger.
“You take it all together — that”s the trick,” Witrow said. “They”re delicious.”
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
