Once a staple of Canadian cuisine, for about 40 years a hamburger served anything less than well done has remained a delicacy enjoyed only in a handful of brave establishments and on trips to the U.S.
nationalpost.com
During a trip to Montreal, U.S. bookseller Steven Elliot decided to troll the downtown looking for a local take on one of his favourite foods, the medium-rare hamburger. Yet in every brasserie, pub and bistro, no matter how many winks and nods he offered, Mr. Elliot was always met with the same reaction: Blank stares, confusion or “we don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Mr. Elliot had just experienced the culture shock of any U.S. burger lover who crosses into Canada. In the daily words of servers across the country: “Medium-rare hamburgers are illegal in Canada.”
Canadians will pair their martinis with a plate of raw oysters, load up their plates with cheap sushi and tuck into a steak served Chicago rare – but the pink, medium-rare hamburger remains strictly taboo. Once a staple of Canadian cuisine, for about 40 years a hamburger served anything less than well done has remained a delicacy enjoyed only in a handful of brave establishments and on trips south of the border. It is targeted by health inspectors, feared by restaurant owners and scorned by the public, but the long-misunderstood pink burger may not be nearly as dangerous as we all thought.
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