Just about everyone knows that John Tesar has a pretty bang up burger at the Commissary. Those grass-fed patties get treated like a Park Cities trophy wife at the spa, bathing sous vide until cooked rare before receiving a final sear on the grill. Toppings are always top shelf -- it's a posh preparation for sure.
But a new cookbook written by power trio Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet pushes advanced burger mechanics to the brink. Sous vide might get you the perfect doneness, but how about the perfect crust? The team behind Modernist Cuisine flash freeze the outer layer of the burger patty, then deep fry it. The result is a burger that's medium rare the entire way through, with a perfect golden brown crust.
And that's just the start.
Cheese is emulsified with binders to melt like American cheese while tasting of a fine aged Gruyere. They custom bake buns and fashion each condiment from scratch. The result is what they proclaim is the perfect burger. Check out this video if you want to see how the sandwich comes together.
The Ultimate Hamburger from Modernist Cuisine on Vimeo.
Can someone in Dallas do this, please? Even if it's a one-off special. Tesar would be a good candidate. And Jeff Harris told me he'd be playing with some liquid nitrogen over at Bolsa Mercado (I hear they're opening on Monday). Maybe he could offer a double secret science experiment burger and keep it off the menu. No telling what the labor costs on this bad boy would be, but if Dallasites love to buy $60 strip steaks, I don't see why we couldn't talk them into the occasional $25 burger. I'd buy one.
