As readers of our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com, know, I love traveling to Canada. From a food standpoint, there is only one thing I hate: not being able to find a medium-rare burger.
When I travel to Canada, I have heard more than one person say they have never had a medium-rare burger and they think well-done burgers are fine.
In the spirit of testing this theory for the blog, even though I was on a quest for seafood, I decided to try a well-done burger and report back as to whether you could find a juicy, tasty, satisfying burger cooked well-done.
Previous coverage:
Cook to 160°F minimum a sign to look elsewhere for meat
Medium-rare burger a rare find in Canada, especially buffalo and elk
While in Charlottetown, I went to an upscale place (Daniel Brenan Brickhouse) that offered a burger with really cool ingredients: (Prince Edward) Island beef, red pepper relish, chili and pickle remoulade, and double smoked bacon. There was cheese on the burger, but I turned it down.
I didn't ask for it to be cooked to any particular temperature. I just ordered it and hoped the other ingredients would help.
The burger looked good from the outside. Maybe, just maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
The other ingredients by themselves on a turkey burger would have been delightful. Lots of fun flavors running around my mouth. The only drawback to the entire sandwich was the actual burger. The color had faded, like the skin tone of a really pale kid.
I forged through hoping that getting further would help. To my credit, I ate most of the burger. At the end, I removed the patty so I could enjoy the other ingredients. That sandwich was nice, and I could have saved a few bucks, if only I had told them to hold the beef.
The burger at the end started to taste like meatloaf, really dry tasteless meatloaf. This was a fine piece of beef, and it had been cruelly sacrificed and robbed of its taste.
I explained to the waitress at the end of the meal that I couldn't finish the burger because it was overcooked. She kindly explained the requirement to cook the burger well-done.
This wasn't McDonald's or Harvey's or White Spot. This was a place all about local and organic, and they had to overcook the burger. And if a place like this couldn't make this burger magic, then I had to give up.
Well, not giving up on Canadian beef; just having it cooked in restaurants.
When I checked into the hostel in Charlottetown, they mentioned a BBQ grill in the back available to the guests. My initial thought was seafood, but as the time went on, the quest became all about the beef.
In my research, I knew there was a country market that was a decent walk away. There I found Island beef with my choice of fat content. I went for medium content (22% fat if I remembered correctly).
The amount I purchased was in grams but I had about 12 oz. of burger meat. More than I would normally order, but I wanted my money's worth.
The grill was propane, and I had my share of difficulties in figuring out how it worked. Still, even my fellow guests were impressed that I had cooked them to a proper medium-rare temperature.
What I was doing was legal in Canada, but not advised. People in their own homes could cook the burger meat to any temperature they liked.
I bought whole wheat buns at the market. I put on Montréal steak seasoning before cooking and sauteed mushrooms (also from the market) after they were done. No other condiments touched the burgers. I wanted to really taste what this beef was like.
Grilled burgers always, as a rule, taste better. I was enjoying the island beef virtually plain, cooked to a beautiful temperature. I would have loved to have the red pepper relish, chili and pickle remoulade, and double smoked bacon. But the burger stood up on its own.
And you know what else? Didn't get sick. Felt full, yes. I ate a lot of beef cooked to medium-rare, and nothing happened.
Though the math might be off, I figure that if the Canadian law were suddenly lifted, more than 90% of the hamburgers sold in restaurants would remain the same. That would still be sad. Lifting the law would allow the places that trust the beef to make a conscious choice, warning customers if they must, to make the beef as wonderful as possible.
The cow had already died. There was no need to kill it a second time.
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