Vile Burger Patties

Burger (or Hamburger sandwich) is one of the main foods Western people eat every day, and now, of the whole world. As time continues running, varieties of burgers are created for the satisfaction of consumers' adventurous taste buds. From a simple 'Hamburger', other burgers like 'Cheeseburger', 'Chiliburger', 'Fishburger' and 'Veggieburger' sprouted into the market to suit on people's diet.

A Burger is a kind of sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties (usually made of ground meat) placed between two burger buns. Some burgers are served with coleslaw, mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup.[1] Those are the basic ingredients in creating such a delicious sandwich.

Anyway, let's have a quick history. The name burger or hamburger derived from a German's second largest city Hamburg, from which place many people emigrated to the United States. Here in the Philippines, burger became one of the most popular meryenda (snack) for children. It was brought here in our country by the Americans (perhaps soldiers) some time before or after World War II. I'm not sure with that.

The most important part of a burger, so you can really call it a burger, is the Patty. It is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat or meat alternatives.[2] The patty can also be eaten not on a burger buns, just like the Salisbury steak, as a dish.

Enough with the discussion. Let's have now the urban legend pertaining to this. Have you been to a restaurant or a fast-food restaurant, where they serve a vile burger patty? What I mean with that is, a burger with an unlikable patty you may not want to eat.

The Bulate Burger

One of my articles here in my blog talks about the cat used for making siopaos, and it really disgusted some of us, especially me. And now, here's another gross story for a popular food which I called a Bulate Burger.

It's actually been rumored for many years about insects and worms mixed on patties, or, not just that but made of it as well. Fast-food restaurants (like McDonalds, KFC, and Jollibee) are the most rumored origin of this vile burger patty.

By the way, Bulate is a Filipino word for 'earthworms'.

This urban legend became famous during the midst of popularity (perhaps 1980's) of earthworms as a 'good source for protein'. Well, yes it's true. Earthworms are indeed a good source of protein. (As well as insects.)

Because of this rumor, many Hamburger restaurants (namely Jollibee and McDonalds) were very much affected. Their burger patties were rumored to contain earthworms.

The Banana Peel Burger

This is actually not an unreal urban legend. There is really a Banana Peel Burger patty, and it's edible though I haven't tasted one. According to those people who had already tried eating it, the Banana peel burger tastes almost similar to a ground meat burger. Maybe because of the seasonings or flavorings used on a real meat burger which is also mixed in making a banana peel burger. This kind of burger is indeed made for vegetarians.

According to a blog, the Musa sapientum banana peel was analysed for minerals, nutritional and anti-nutritional contents. The result of the analysis indicated the concentration of potassium, calcium, sodium, iron, manganese, bromine, rubidium, stronium, zirconium, and niobium to be 78.10, 19.20, 24.30, 0.61, 76.20, 0.04, 0.21, 0.03, 0.02 and 0.02, respectively.[3] Because of that, this banana peel is nutritious.

Here's the ingredients: [3]

5 to 10 pcs. Ripe Banana peel

2 medium sized white onions

1 medium sized Red Bell Pepper

2 tablespoon of salt

2 tablespoon of ground pepper

6 egg yolk

8 tablespoon of flour

Procedure:

1. Chop the banana peel until minced. Then minced the white onions and red bell pepper.

2. Mix the minced banana peel, white onions, red bell pepper with 6 pieces of egg yolk. Add 2 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoon of ground pepper. Lastly add 8 tablespoon of flour.

3. Mix everything well. Mold it on a plastic wrapper like a burger patty shape.

4. Put it inside the fridge for 30 minutes so it will be in good shape.

5. Heat the pan with cooking oil just enough for frying. Fry the banana peel patties until golden brown.

Afterword

It seems these vile burgers are edible, though unlikable to eat. Actually, there are countries which use earthworms on their native delicacy. All Asian nations have their own exotic foods. Here in the Philippines, farm rats, bee larvae, and frogs are eaten, but they are not served in urban cities. The tradition of eating them can be found only in rural areas. Other Southeast Asian countries also eat them. So it is normal if you see people in Thailand, Cambodia, etc. buying, selling and eating insects and worms everywhere. It could be disgusting to Western people.

I will not be surprised if I hear people using insects in burger patties. Insects are one of the main sources of high protein, making them a nutritious food. The earthworm burger patty became a rumored because people thought fast food restaurants use them as the base for patty not ground meat.

Sources:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty
[3] http://bananapeelpatty.blogspot.com
Image Source:
http://www.bubblews.com/assets/images/news/1481715318_1389906596.jpg