When I ordered my bespoke burger rare at the Santa Monica (California) location of The Counter, my waitress asked, “Do you know what rare is?” Odd question, I thought, to be asking a native English speaker fluent in basic menu vocabulary. I nodded yes, missing my chance to answer her with the broader philosophical question: “Does anyone know what rare is anymore?”
Because thick hamburger patties don’t toughen much as they cook, grill cooks cannot apply the finger test to check for doneness as they can with steaks. Most err on the long side, which is why burger lovers from LA to London have grown accustomed to getting medium-rare when they order rare, medium when they order medium-rare and so on.
The burger I was served at The Counter was that rarity, a rare that’s actually rare (see photo above). They know what rare is and, judging by the waitress’ question, they also know most of us are no longer so sure. I emailed The Counter to find out if the waitress was acting on her own and got this response from Mike Miklos, the Director of Education and Team Development:
The server probably could have phrased her question better, but what she was trying to say was that “you’re really going to get a rare burger”…Many times our customers order a “medium” thinking it will have no pink, when it arrives they think it’s raw. Since everyone has their own perception of what “medium” or “rare” is we try not to even use those terms and [instead] describe the amount of redness.
One of my favorite steakhouses in the world — Bern’s in Tampa — has always defined “rare” as “cold, red center.” And it delivers on its promises!
Alas, the “rare” problem goes beyond beef. It’s difficult to find a non-Chinese restaurant that can be counted on to cook fish to the “just done” stage; it normally comes out severely over cooked. I’ve become reduced to ordering mainly salmon “sashimi rare” in hopes of getting something acceptable. (At least, when it comes out well done, I don’t feel at all guilty sending it back, and when it’s really rare — “cold, red center” — I still enjoy it.)