A great burger doesn't always come in a bun.

Hamburgers have become not just the great American fast food. Lately they have like cupcakes become a foodie obsession. Some are just made with care and the best available ingredients like those at Oinkster in Eagle Rock, the place that kicked off this fad locally. Now Oinster set out to prove that if you took care and skill, you could produce a perfect hamburger. They do and at a price not that much higher than ordinary fast food places.

Since then the foodies have swarmed and now we have ultra burgers for ten bucks each or more or hyper burgers for twenty or more bucks. The ultra burgers tend to be big, too big, often half a pound of beef. The hyper burgers are tarted up with special buns, exotic kinds of meat and lily gilding “gourmet” extra ingredients like fois gras, exotic bacon, rare mushrooms and so on and so forth. For me, I think what the Oinkster does is commendable and a revelation of what care and skill can do. For the ultra and hyper burgers, while sometimes interesting, even amazing, I find them decadent at best, just for show at worst.

Some off beat and different burgers come to mind. Trying to recapture them might be a much more useful thing than lily gilding and hyping the whole idea of hamburger sandwich. Three of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten all came with out the common hamburger bun. Yeah,they came on bread of one kind or another and were all the better for it.

USS Camden AOE-2 in South China Sea

The first is the US Navy “Midrats” burgers and cheese burgers. By old custom at sea around midnight the ship’s galley prepares a light meal for the on coming and off going watch. The “eve” watch runs from 8:00 pm to midnight, the “mid” watch from midnight to 4:00 am. From eleven thirty to twelve fifteen, the galley has a light meal for those about to take the watch and those coming off. Every couple days my ship served burgers, on the other days they had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches or cold roast beef from the evening meal. The burgers were grilled with or with cheese and slapped between slices of ship’s bread. This was not fluffy store bought bread, but chewy home made bread that didn’t go mushy or fall apart. Basic condiments were available including lettuce and pickles, tomatoes ran out a few days after we left port. These were great direct simple burgers that tasted rich and satisfying after four hours on deck in the dark, the wind and salt spray.

In the San Francisco Bay area many places served larger burgers (a third or half a pound of beef) on flat French or Italian rolls. This gave you something to hold onto and something to soak up the meat juices. Larry Blake’s on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley had a great savory burger they served with a big helping of garlicky Caesar Salad not fries. It was ambrosia and salty enough to make sure you ordered another beer. The same was true of many places where you had a choice of a a hamburger or a linguiça, Italian, Polish or Louisiana Hot sausage sandwich. The sausages were split down the center and grilled until crusted then dropped into the big chew rolls and dresses with the usual condiments and garnishes. They were so big they came already cut in half. Great manly food.

The Joe’s restaurants around the Bay Area served and still serve their hamburgers in a long piece of sour dough baguette. Some hallow out the inside to fit the oblong burger, some don’t. Some mix raw onion into the meat before cooking, others give you grilled onions if you ask for them. None of the usual condiments outside mustard and catsup are provided, but honestly these high quality burgers really don’t need any extra flavoring.