sandwiches: round 05: burger theme

The Selection:

Dave's "El Paso: The Next Step in the Manifest Destiny" Burger (homemade salsa [tomato on the vine, onion, cilantro, chili pepper]; chedder cheese [triangulated]; homemade guacamole [avocado, lime, garlic powder, onion]; black olive hummus; lamb burger; brown rice hamburger bun).



Angelica's Euro Classic Burger (lamb burger, smoked Gouda, slivered sweet onion, pickles, lettuce, mayo, mustard on brown rice hamburger bun)










The Sides: Greek Salad, cucumbers banned

Sandwich Making Soundtrack: Latin channel on Live365.com

The Duel:

Angelica on Euro Classic -I was aiming for simplicity and I think I hit the mark. My return to burger eating (after many years of not eating red meat) is disproportionately focussed on the meat. My burger condiments of choice are always just mustard and mayo...perhaps a little pickle, a little onion, maybe some lettuce...definitely cheese. The smoked Gouda definitely brought the burger out of North America and into Europe. Everything in small enough proportions to be a nice accent without overshadowing the lamb.

Dave on the Euro Classic - Juxtaposition was key for me (her burger to his), so the back and forth between burgers was as much a part of the taste sensation as was each burger in itself. Big ups to Angelica for going with a classic and risking the disfavour of judges who crave the exotic at these competitions. The classic comes through with flavours that bring me back at once to fond memories and good places.


Angelica on "El Paso: The Next Step in the Manifest Destiny" Burger -I was worried that the multi-layer, multi-flavour per layer would leave my tastebuds confused, but instead all the flavours formed a nice medley. Certainly the prettier of the two burgers, both in colour and in shapes (triangles!)...extra points for the homemade salsa and guacamole, especially the extra on hand to pile onto the burger to tip the flavour one way or another.

Dave on "El Paso: The Next Step in the Manifest Destiny" Burger - This was everything i want a tex-mex kind of burger to taste like in a restaurant: salsa, heat, guac, savoury, hummus, and sides of extras of all of the above with which to explore as i eat. High marks to me from me on taste, but i could have better anticipated the spill-out potential. Next time i will go for novel brger construction to mitigate blobs of filling on my plate. Triangle-cut cheese just tastes better.


The Judgment:

AS: Dave by a sliver (anything with that much avocado on hand is sure to win me over)...I'd eat both again though - mine for its high taste to effort ratio and Dave's if he's the one making it.

DM: I'm one of the exotic judges, so i'm going to have to say that the "El Paso: The Next Step in the Manifest Destiny" Burger slips in to 1st by a nose. But i totally agree with AS on the effort to taste ratio being well in her favour. If likelihood of re-making and even sharing with others was part of this vote, AS would take this easily.