From James Villas' "American Taste" -- Burger Truth:
"He reaches in the refrigerator, pulls out a fistfull of fresh red meat, shapes it into a fat patty, and throws it on a flat grill ... . After a few minutes he flips it over, and, since I want a cheeseburger with all the trimmings, lays a slice of American cheddar (nothing more fancy, mind you) on top to melt all down the sides. In the meantime, he takes a hot, soft sesame-seed bun out of a bread warmer, smears both sides with gobs of mayonnaise plus a little catsup, and neatly arranges, on the bottom half, one fat cut of Bermuda onion, two slices of real tomato, and two or three leaves of crisp iceberg lettuce. On top of all this he spatulas the burger, adds the top half of the bun, and then, with the palm of his hand, pushes slightly down on his creation so that the meat juices begin saturating the other ingredients. Finally, he tongs a mess of piping hot French fries on the plate, and an unspecified number of sliced sour pickles, and casually plops the miracle on the counter.
"You grasp the corpulent creature with both hands, squeeze hard, and begin gradually, ever so carefully, trying to edge it into your salivating mouth. You close your eyes, chomp down, and ... you're on your way. The meat, cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, catsup: each makes its own special contribution to the whole, yet the flavors and textures harmonize almost synesthetically. When your teeth finally meet, all hell breaks loose as the juices start to explode and bits and pieces of garnishment try to go their own way. it's dripping ... all down your chin and through your fingers and across your wrists and onto the plate; red, green, white particles bombarding the countertop and the single, innocent, worthless paper napkin resting in your lap."
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