At its most basic, a burger is kind of boring. Meat. Cheese. Bun. A burger is not meant to stand out, but rather to simply satisfy and satiate with consistency and affordability. That makes it equally appropriate for both the blue-collar worker’s lunch and the rich person’s gourmet splurge.
But within that simplicity hides a deeper strength. The burger is one of the few national dishes on the global stage that has no strict recipe or guidelines attached. Its mind-numbing simplicity is exactly what also makes it wildly customizable. Outside of the core components of meat, cheese and bun, chefs have complete freedom to create whatever they desire without the restriction of culinary or cultural dogma.
Dare to substitute the cheese used in cacio e pepe in Italy and you’ll get death threats. But swapping out a burger bun for doughnuts or fried mac-and-cheese will make you a viral sensation here. That freedom of expression, that ability to push boundaries and sometimes even go too far over the top, is what makes the burger such an iconic symbol of America…