Anthony Bourdain's Rule Of Thumb For A Perfect Cheeseburger
The beloved celebrity chef explained as much in a discussion with Insider Tech back in 2016 when he described the perfect burger, noting the most important things to remember when crafting the world-renowned dish. The key to his ideal burger? "In a perfect world, you should be able to eat a burger with one hand and get a representative chunk of all the elements," said the chef (via YouTube).
Bourdain was a big fan of burgers, describing them as "the ultimate bar food" in "A Cook's Tour" (via YouTube). But he had a clear philosophy when it came to modifying a traditional cheeseburger. "You have to ask yourself, 'Is this thing I'm doing to this perfectly good, classic dish, is it making it better?'" he asked. "You might deconstruct it in a way that impresses people, delights them, or astounds them, but does it make it better?" Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that Bourdain loved one particular fast food chain -- In-N-Out -- for its simple yet tasty fare.
Needless to say, Anthony Bourdain had a great appreciation for minimalist burgers, which he believed were all about a good-quality beef patty, meltable cheese, and a soft potato (not brioche) bun. There shouldn't be too many unique toppings that distract from the beauty of the burger itself -- and stop you from being able to eat it with one hand. This concept is a popular one among food fans, with us here at The Takeout also favoring classical toppings like onions, pickles, and ketchup when ranking the best and worst burger toppings known to mankind.
Bourdain further explained his stance on the makeup of a perfect cheeseburger and the toppings that are on it. "I like a blue cheese burger, but as with all things you cook, there are trade-offs," he said (via YouTube). "I like lettuce on a burger, maybe even a tomato is nice, but it makes it structurally more difficult to eat." It helps, of course, to add burger toppings in the right order -- though some are certainly more risky than others when it comes to a burger's structural integrity.
It's not that the chef wanted a small, compact burger -- Kobe beef sliders were a bougie burger trend Bourdain couldn't stand -- but simplicity was a highly important aspect of the classic dish for him. "One of the greatest sins in burgerdom, I think, is making a burger that's just difficult to eat," he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why the World Never Fell Out of Love with the Prince of Darkness
Ozzy Osbourne told Rolling Stone in 2002 he already knew what his epitaph would say. 'I guarantee that if I was to die tonight, tomorrow it would be, 'Ozzy Osbourne, the man who bit the head off a bat, died in his hotel room …'' he said. 'I know that's coming.' He'd made his peace with that fate. 'I've got no complaints. At least I'll be remembered.' But Ozzy got this one wrong. The world is in mourning for him, after the news of his death yesterday at 76. But not as a cartoon metal maniac chomping on bat flesh. We're mourning for Ozzy as one of the most unimpeachably human voices in music, and one of the most cherished legends in pop culture. It was Ozzy's moon. The rest of us just barked at it. For a guy with such a niche background — no rock band had ever set out to scare normies away like Black Sabbath — he became a universal figure as beloved as Ringo. Who else could sing duets with Lita Ford, Busta Rhymes, Elton John, Post Malone, and Miss Piggy without losing any metal cred? No matter how prolific or unprolific he was, even when he was a mess, people cherished Ozzy with an intensely loyal affection that was really unlike anything else. The world never fell out of love with this Prince of Darkness. More from Rolling Stone Ozzy Osbourne Documentary 'No Escape From Now' Still Set for Release This Fall Lita Ford Remembers Ozzy Osbourne: 'In Ozzy's Name, Keep Rocking' Drake Honors Ozzy Osbourne at Birmingham Concert Ozzy blew up into a Seventies teenage antihero because he seemed to speak for the misfits, the rejects, the outcasts. He helped invent metal as we know it with Black Sabbath, but he kept rolling through the years with one of the longest and strangest rock careers. With The Osbournes, he became the world's favorite sitcom dad. By the 2000s, he could show up at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth's Royal Jubilee, to celebrate her 40th anniversary, and serenade Her Majesty with 'Paranoid.' There was nothing at all controversial about the Prince of Darkness singing for the Defender of the Faith. She greeted him in the reception line with 'I hear you're a bit of a wild man.' 'Prince William said to me later, 'It would have been great if you had done 'Black Sabbath,''' Ozzy told RS. 'If I had done 'Black Sabbath,' the fucking royal box would have turned to stone, and the Archbishop of Canterbury would have had to douse them in holy water.' Ozzy's nine lives had nine lives apiece. He managed the historic feat of getting kicked out of Black Sabbath for doing too many drugs, in 1979. The fact that he kept waking up alive every morning for the next 40-plus years is one of the weirdest things that's ever happened in rock & roll. Nobody would have bet on this guy to survive the Eighties, much less keep getting more famous every year, but his star never stopped rising. He did more farewell tours than Cher, Elton, and the Who combined, following up No More Tours in 1992 with his Retirement Sucks tour, then going out again in 2018 with his awesomely titled No More Tours II. But he hated being offstage, and talked constantly in his final years about his drive to get back out there, despite his Parkinson's diagnosis. He even got to attend his own farewell party, performing his last concert with his old mates in Black Sabbath just a couple of weeks before his death, in his hometown of Birmingham, England. The 'Back to the Beginning' farewell show was a full-on celebration of his life and legacy, an electric funeral, with a host of fellow music legends paying their respects. One of the most poignant and heartfelt tributes came from Dolly Parton, with whom Ozzy has a surprising amount in common. Both became anti-establishment stars in the 1970s, too out there for the mainstream, dismissed as cartoon jokes, yet finally celebrated as true heroes decades ahead of their time. Her video message played on the screen between sets. 'Now, are we supposed to be saying farewell to you?' Dolly said. 'Well, I don't think that's going to happen. How about we just say good luck, God bless you, and we will see you somewhere down the road. Anyway, I love you, always have. And we're gonna miss you up onstage, but you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't show up somewhere else — and I'll be there.' It all came down to his voice. Even when Ozzy wasn't the one writing the lyrics, they were inseparable from his quavering voice, as pure in its earnest simplicity as Brian Wilson. He sang about the morbid sense of doom that Seventies and Eighties kids felt during the era of the superpower nuclear arms race, a topic he revisited far more than any other rock star, in classics like 'War Pigs,' 'Crazy Train,' 'Children of the Grave,' or 'Electric Funeral.' He was one of very few voices anywhere in pop culture who brought this much moral wrath and empathy to the kids living under the mushroom cloud, especially the American teenagers reaching draft age around the time Paranoid and Master of Reality came out. For them, the fiery doom of 'Black Sabbath' was no occult metaphor. Ozzy's Iron Man and Bowie's Major Tom were the twin rock images of alienated youth in the 1970s, pissed off at the nuclear future their elders had built for them, sneering in aloof disdain behind a spaced-out mask. As Ozzy said, they'd seen the future and they'd left it behind. Right from the start, Ozzy sang with an authentic purity, but that purity was more than just part of his voice — it was his voice. Unlike other hard-rock singers at the time, he did not try to get bluesy, and he did not aspire to the muscle of a soul belter. He didn't bother with sexy-stud posturing or macho bluster. He was one of us. His moral force is part of what made him so genuinely scary when he arrived — Alice Cooper, that guy was funny and cool, but Ozzy's power was all in the way he undeniably meant every word he sang. Black Sabbath's music was terrifying to me as a kid, growing up in the suburbs — it was the stuff that the cool, scary older kids listened to when the adults weren't around, when they were smoking and partying, scared kids in the dark. On the bridge near my house, by Milton High School, the words were spray-painted: 'Welcome to Ozzy's Coven.' (Which was how I learned the word coven.) Yet Ozzy's voice sounded so benign and compassionate, downright vulnerable. The first time I ever heard his voice was at my next-door neighbor's house, in his big brother's basement pad, where he kept a piranha and played the first Sabbath album. I remember hearing 'N.I.B.,' with Ozzy singing in the voice of the devil. Yet what made it so scarily piercing was how forlorn and frail he sounded. It blew my mind when he quoted Buddy Holly, singing 'Your love for me has got to be real' — I knew that line from my Fifties-rocker parents listening to 'Not Fade Away.' What did Ozzy mean by making the devil a Buddy Holly-style romantic? It was a world away from the just-call-me-Luuucifaaaah strut of Mick Jagger. Ozzy's devils sounded so scary because they were mostly afraid of themselves. In his solo years, he played up the comedy, in a great hit like 'Flying High Again,' kicking off with a massive Randy Rhoads riff while Ozzy burbles in his most hapless voice, 'Oh noooo! Here we go!' It sums up his immensely lovable warmth right down to the way he sings, 'Am I just a crazy guy?' and then snickers, 'You bet.' But he still had that unimpeachable realness in his voice — for him, it was practically all he had in his voice. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats really captured his mystique for latter-day fans in his novella Master of Reality, written in the voice of an institutionalized teenage Sabbath fanatic. 'No matter how many songs he sings, Ozzy always always sounds like they just grabbed him off the street and stuck him in front of a microphone, and then they either handed him a piece of paper with some lyrics on it or he already had some written on his hand or something.' In Rolling Stone's year-end issue for 1990, the first page had loads of stars giving their summary of the year, mostly pimping their latest career highlights. But Ozzy kept it short and sweet. 'One of the greatest heroes of all time said it in 1969: 'Give peace a chance.' Let's all try for it in 1991.' A typical Oz statement, full of contradictions (he was only a year past getting arrested for attacking his wife in a drunken stupor) but also that innate Ozzy sincerity. John Lennon had a similar cocktail in his personality, but he was also armored with complex layers of defensive wit and irony that Ozzy simply didn't have in his system. 'Give peace a chance' remained an aspirational ideal for Ozzy, the guy who kept doing the peace sign in public long after it went out of style for rock stars. 'We were the last hippie band,' he told RS in 2002. 'We were into peace.' After bombing out of Sabbath, he could have symbolized everything complacent, decadent, and dull about old-school rock. Yet he was never a joke. Like Geddy Lee, his opposite in so many other ways, he was cherished as an evolutionary mishap who symbolized his own kind of uncompromised integrity. One of the highlights of seeing my first Replacements show, a dingy all-aged matinee in the summer of 1986, was seeing Paul Westerberg and the boys lock into 'Iron Man,' one of the few songs they came close to finishing. Later that year, the Beastie Boys opened Licensed to Ill with the sampled 'Sweet Leaf' riff of 'Rhymin and Stealin,' dragging Sabbath into the Eighties the same way Run-D.M.C. did for Aerosmith. One of his best Eighties moments: Ozzy's classic egg-frying scene in Decline of Western Civilization Part II. He's the rock star at home, puttering around the kitchen in a leopard-print robe, a Real Housewife of Darkness, looking more like Rue McLanahan in The Golden Girls then any rock star you could name. He fixes breakfast, ineptly frying eggs and bacon while trying to pour himself a glass of orange juice on the counter. He gets about half of it into the actual glass. He also discusses his latest attempt to get sober. Director: 'Do you feel better now?' Ozzy: 'No.' He became even more iconic in the Nineties. Beck gave him a classic shout-out on MTV's 120 Minutes, in his famous February 1994 sit-down with Thurston Moore and Mike D — perhaps the most Nineties moment of television ever aired. Beck wore a thrift-store hockey shirt that proclaimed 'Stop! Tell Me I'm Ozzy Because I Am.' He'd written 'Ozzy' on a piece of masking tape and stuck it over whatever the original word was. He also made his plea in 'Ozzy' on his album Stereopathetic Soulmanure. (Sample lyric: 'Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy/What does it mean?/The fire is green.') By now, Ozzy was a fact of life that songwriters couldn't resist evoking as a way to set the table. 'It's reigning triple sec in Tchula/And the radio plays 'Crazy Train,'' David Berman drawled in the 1996 Silver Jews classic 'Black and Brown Blues,' with Ozzy as an unelectable symbol of ur-American burnout ordinariness. The Hold Steady's Craig Finn sang 'Playing records in a rented room/Hotter Than Hell into Bark at the Moon' in 2012, just as his songwriting heir MJ Lenderman sang a dozen years later, 'I've never seen the 'Mona Lisa'/I've never really left my room/I've been up too late playing Guitar Hero/Playing 'Bark at the Moon.'' He went on to help invent reality TV with The Osbournes, the blockbuster MTV hit that turned him into a sitcom dad. It starred a real-life family who could only communicate with a camera crew present, constantly cutting a promo in every interaction, with dialogue full of bleeped profanity. It's fitting since reality TV became the social menace as feared and dreaded as metal used to be. But my favorite Ozzy memory will always be seeing him on the Retirement Sucks tour in 1996, at Meriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland, a love-fest where Ozzy basked in the adoration of the audience, which he craved, but nowhere near as much as the audience did. Nobody really cared that Ozzy needed a teleprompter, which was a shocking innovation at the time; everybody within six miles of the venue knew all the words to 'Iron Man,' down to the security guards, but absolutely nobody was mad that Ozzy was the only one there who didn't. 'Is anyone smoking that sweet leaf?' he asked. 'When I said I quit, I fucking lied!' It was an overwhelming feeling of warmth and joy just to be in the same room with Ozzy, as it always was. And as long as his music lives on — which it will — being in the same room as Ozzy is always the place to be. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ozzy Osbourne Documentary ‘No Escape From Now' Still Set for Release This Fall
An upcoming documentary about Ozzy Osbourne's health setbacks in recent years and his desire to stage a farewell concert will still arrive later this year despite the heavy metal legend's death Tuesday. No Escape From Now, described as 'a deeply personal portrait of the rock legend's harsh new realities and his battle to take the stage for one final performance,' will hit Paramount+ this autumn, a rep for the filmmakers confirmed to Rolling Stone. More from Rolling Stone Lita Ford Remembers Ozzy Osbourne: 'In Ozzy's Name, Keep Rocking' Drake Honors Ozzy Osbourne at Birmingham Concert Ozzy Osbourne's Top Ten Beatles Songs 'We are truly heartbroken to hear the news of Ozzy's passing,' Phil and Tania Alexander, the creative team behind No Escape From Now, said in a statement. 'Filming with him, Sharon, Aimee, Kelly and Jack for the last three and a half years will always be a cherished and remarkable experience – largely because we got to regularly witness Ozzy's indomitable spirit, his mischievous, irresistible grin and his masterful display of unique one-liners. We will always love you dear Oz. And we send love and strength to Sharon and her family.' In addition to its access to Osbourne, the film features appearances by Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, as well as several musicians who have played with him over the years: Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, guitarist Zakk Wylde, Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. It will also feature commentary from Billy Idol, Idol's guitarist and Osbourne's close friend Billy Morrison, Tool singer Maynard James Keenan, and record producer Andrew Watt. No Escape From Now also filmed footage at Osbourne and Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning farewell concert earlier this month, a rep for the film said. A rep declined to comment on what changes, if any, would be made to the film in light of Osbourne's death. 'The last six years have been full of some of the worst times I've been through,' Osbourne previously said of the documentary in a statement. 'There's been times when I thought my number was up. But making music and making two albums saved me. I'd have gone nuts without music. My fans have supported me for so many years, and I really want to thank them and say a proper goodbye to them. That is what the Villa Park show [in Birmingham] is about.' The documentary is one of a handful of projects Osbourne had in the works prior to his death at the age of 76, just weeks after his triumphant farewell show in Birmingham, England. The singer's now-posthumous memoir Last Rites, which also focuses on his health issues, is set to publish in October, while a concert film centered on Back to the Beginning will hit the big screen in 2026. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Fever Announce Caitlin Clark's Status For 'Stranger Things' Game vs. Aces
Fever Announce Caitlin Clark's Status For 'Stranger Things' Game vs. Aces originally appeared on The Spun. The Indiana Fever are once again partnering with the hit show "Stranger Things" on themed uniforms for Thursday night's game vs. the Las Vegas Aces. But the biggest question is will Caitlin Clark even get to wear them? As the 23-year-old superstar continues to nurse the groin injury that kept her out of this year's All-Star festivities, it sounds like her absence from the Fever lineup is going to continue for at least another game. "No surprise, but Caitlin Clark (right groin) is officially ruled out for Thursday vs Aces," Indiana beat writer Scott Agness reported. Adding, "The team didn't practice today, but held film + treatment." The Fever first debuted the special edition uniforms referencing the Hawkins, IN-based sci-fi thriller back in 2021 and they've quickly become a favorite among fans. "This jersey represents the fierce spirit of our team and the fearless energy of Stranger Things – two forces that never back down," the team said in a statement. "As we celebrate our team and the cultural phenomenon that is Stranger Things, we're thrilled to bring back this awesome collaboration with Netflix." Indiana will reintroduce the jerseys for the first time this week before bringing them out again: July 30 vs. Phoenix August 9 vs. Chicago August 12 vs. Dallas August 26 vs. Seattle August 29 at Los Angeles September 9 vs. Minnesota The fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" begins with four episodes this November before three more premiere on Christmas Day and the finale releases on Dec. Announce Caitlin Clark's Status For 'Stranger Things' Game vs. Aces first appeared on The Spun on Jul 23, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
