[fodder] prologue to a burger

[Big Rig Diner, Oxford Street, Sydney]

It's been a long time between burgers...and an even longer time since I have posted anything regarding the Burger Project. That doesn't mean I haven't been mulling over past difficulties or future incarnations...but I have felt the need for some inspiration recently.

The trouble is I want installment #5 to be something special and a true burger-lution. I feel my progress has plateaued, with the last couple of attempts falling on flat taste buds. The creative pause has made me more determined to re-ignite the grill inside. Over recent weeks there has been some renewed inspiration, things urging me to pick up the spatula again. For prosperity I will share these with you now. Consider this the prologue to a burger:

(1) Project Support: I have a lot of ongoing moral support behind this quest. However, Jay was kind enough to provide me with my first piece of tangible support. I am sure Jay sees this more as an investment, a donation of capital if you will. Such an action should guarantee him a proverbial foot-in-the-door to a well-qualified American style burger upon his State-side return. We all yearn for that taste once we have left America's shores, bound for some distant-foreign-burger-wasteland.

Like all good investments, the first portion comprised of an R&D piece. 'Hamburger America' is a documentary film about 'some of the best burgers in America' and the people who created them. The film is by George Motz who, as it turns out, has his own website and blog dedicated to the burger. Alas, I am yet to watch this inspirational piece. I cannot convince my beloved of the cultural significance and renewed enthusiasm this film will bring to me and my project. Not even the addition of a patty press, a monument to Jay's continued support of my burger mission, will sway her conviction. Rest assured my love for, erh...burgers...will see me through.

(2) Attack of the Clones: As I have mentioned before, the benchmark burger for this whole project is the Shack Burger from the Shake Shack in Madison Square, NYC. I have yet been able to find any decent clone recipes...until now! A Hamburger Today has provided a link to someone's Fake Shack Burger. This is the piece I have been waiting for, I shall double-my-efforts.

Unfortunately, this still does not resolve my bun dilemma (last detailed here), but one can't downplay the significance of this recipe as a resource for burger lovers everywhere.

(3) The Big Rig Diner: was my first serious burger outing in sometime. I had been on the strict 'why bother' burger diet. I suppose that's a good enough reason to visit alone (located at 231 Oxford Street, Sydney).

They've made a pretty good attempt at replicating the diner-feel...erh, but then added the trendy Oxford-Street club atmosphere, particularly as 9pm encroaches on Friday night. Anyway, assuming you have the claustrophobic/hole-in-the-wall style diner in your head and you aren't after a no frills diner (or price tag) you shouldn't be too disappointed. Consider it a diner Sydney-style. Importantly the burger was pretty tasty. A slightly different beast to my ultimate goal, but definitely good enough to quench your hamburger thirst. Although washing it down with a Brazilian beer was surreal, but it is Oxford Street I guess. This is what: (1) the NYTimes thinks, and; (2) what Ritchie thinks.

(4) Finally, thanks must also go to Ritchie 'Richie' Elliot. His continued research and project endorsement has been steadfast. Having been there for my first Shake Shack experience...erh, or was it second? Anyway, he knows what I am fighting for. Cheers mate.

Keep truckin'