Anthony Bourdain's Rule Of Thumb For A Perfect Cheeseburger
There are few dishes quite as tried and true as a good old-fashioned cheeseburger. While the fast food cheeseburger once sold for just five cents by White Castle has evolved over the years, the key to good burgers generally, according to Anthony Bourdain, was simple. It's all about keeping in mind the inherent genius (and deliciousness) of the basic recipe -- and how easy it is to eat.
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.
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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
Vintage photos show how people lived, partied, and protested during the 'Summer of Love'
Held in January 1967, San Francisco's Human Be-In event was a precursor to the Summer of Love. The Human Be-In event took place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on January 14, 1967, and is considered a key moment that led to the Summer of Love. Featuring counterculture figures including psychologist and psychedelic-drug advocate Timothy Leary and writer Allen Ginsberg, the event drew as many as 30,000 attendees, who gathered to meet like-minded young people, play music, dance, recite poetry, and in many cases trip out on psychedelics. It would inspire later iterations, such as the Colorado Human Be-In in July 1967. The movement began in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. By spring break in 1967, young people began to flock to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. From dropout high school and college students to runaway minors, they began to fill the streets in what became a never-ending gathering. The Summer of Love was defined by a strong ideological movement. While masses would gather at music events and bond over their shared love for rock bands, the most significant part of the summer was the political movement that spread across the country and drew young people to the West Coast. With some members of a historically large generation — the baby boomers — entering their teenage years in 1967, the youth movement rapidly gained momentum. The hippie culture that erupted in the Haight-Ashbury district held an anti-war stance and preached about peace and love as a new way of life. They stood against consumerism and were distrusting of the government, setting up free shops and clinics within the district. Some of the largest gatherings happened at music festivals headlined by acts like the Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix. At some of the summer's most populous events, like the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival and the Monterey Pop Festivals, up to 60,000 people gathered to hear acts like the Who, Otis Redding, the Grateful Dead, the Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin play live. With thousands of hippies traveling from other states for the music festivals, California became the center of one of the largest cultural exoduses in American history. PBS reported that it was "the largest migration of young people in the history of America." That summer, The Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," a soundtrack of the scene. Encapsulating the spirit of the times, which was influenced by the growing popularity of psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin, The Beatles released their eighth studio album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." The album was released on May 26, 1967, ahead of the Summer of Love. With lyrics speaking of peace, love, and surrealism, it resonated with the growing hippie communities in the US and Europe. Use of psychedelic drugs was widespread and a significant element of the movement. Discovered in 1943, the synthetic psychedelic drug LSD became a defining element of the Summer of Love. Psychologist Timothy Leary was an advocate for psychedelic drug use and research. His speeches, which encouraged young people to "turn on, tune in, drop out," became a mantra through which the hippie youth shaped their spiritual experimentation, aided by the drugs. Protesters often faced police resistance. Mass protests across the country, whether it was spreading the hippie ideals of peace and love, or rejecting racial injustice, popped up in major cities like New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Local authorities were overwhelmed by the thousands of young people migrating to San Francisco. On March 24, 1967, a headline ran in the San Francisco Chronicle announcing the mayor's "war on hippies." Despite the authorities' opposition to the movement happening in the Haight-Ashbury, the hippies ultimately outnumbered them. Meanwhile, in Detroit and Newark, New Jersey, people were protesting racial injustice. While the hippie youths gathered in California, the greater Civil Rights Movement continued spreading in the Northeastern states, where thousands protested the racism that persisted after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The riots peaked during what became known as the " long hot summer of 1967" in cities including Detroit and Newark, over issues including police brutality and racial injustice. The riots, which went on for days at a time, often saw the involvement of the US National Guard and Army troops, which heightened tensions. On July 24, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson invoked the Insurrection Act to help suppress riots in Detroit. Hippies and draft dodgers began seeking refuge in communes separate from the rest of society. Seeking to escape the authority of the US government and the structure of life they saw as damaging to society, many hippies — among them, Vietnam draft dodgers — moved to rural communes, where they could live outside commercialism. Preaching self-reliance, these communes aimed to "return to the land." The "back-to-the-land" movement in 1967 focused on a detachment from power structures rather than revolting against them. Self-reliance through independent farming led to the rise of organic food, vegetarianism, and holistic medicine, as reported by But not everyone's commitment to the movement endured, and by fall, some began to return home. The far-reaching impact of the "Summer of Love" was partly due to mass media representation of the movement, including a Time cover dedicated to the hippies. Over the course of the summer, the movement achieved dominance in the music charts, with songs like "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" by Scott McKenzie spreading the idea of a cultural movement promoting love taking place in San Francisco. By the peak of the summer, Haight-Ashbury had become a hot spot not only for young people seeking to connect with like-minded souls but also for tourists wanting to witness the crowds that had taken over the city. However, as the summer came to an end and the new school year started, young people began leaving, with some returning to their work or studies. The "Summer of Love" ended with a symbolic funeral. On October 6, 1967, a mock funeral was held in the Haight-Ashbury district. The deceased? "Hippie, devoted son of Mass Media," read flyers around the city. The event was meant to give an official end to the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco that had become plagued by addiction, per the University of California San Francisco. "We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, to stay where you are, bring the revolution to where you live and don't come here because it's over and done with," Mary Kasper, who organized the event, told PBS, as reported by the Saturday Evening Post.
Refinery29
6 days ago
- Refinery29
Yulissa Escobar Does Represent Our Community. And That's the Problem.
Another Latina stepped in it — again. This time it was Yulissa Escobar who, checks notes, made it through just two days of filming Love Island USA before getting booted from the villa. The Cuban American saw her dreams of small-screen fame come to an end on June 4 after TMZ and Reddit users shared two clips of her casually using the N-word on podcasts. And if Escobar would say that while being recorded, what is she saying off camera? Since it all went down, she apologized. 'I want to apologize for using a word I had no right in using,' she said in an Instagram post on June 6. 'I used it ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it. I wasn't trying to be offensive or harmful, but I recognize now that intention doesn't excuse impact. And the impact of that word is real. It's tied to generations of trauma, and it is not mine to use.' As the videos of Escobar so casually saying the N-word resurfaced, so did a now-deleted TikTok video where she talked about losing social media followers because of her support for President Donald Trump. As funny TikTok skits of Love Island USA producers pulling Escobar out of her bed in the middle of the night go viral and as online commentators point to her Miami Cuban roots to minimize her anti-Blackness, it's tempting to just throw Escobar away, to vote her off the proverbial Latinidad island, but actually we need to reckon with her. After all, 39% of Latinas voted for Trump, in tacit support of his vision of a U.S. optimized for white Anglo men at the expense of everyone else. And no, they weren't all Miami Cubans. ' "If you're not Black, you shouldn't say the N-word. It's that simple." cristina escobar ' Escobar is hardly the only non-Black Latina to drop the N-word. Generally scandal-free Jennifer Lopez got in trouble for doing it on her 2001 track 'I'm Real (Murder Remix)' with Ja Rule. In 2019, Jane the Virgin (and now Will Trent) star Gina Rodriguez caught heat for recording herself using it. And in Latine neighborhoods across the country, the slur slips out of non-Black Latine mouths as commonly as 'mija' or 'nena.' So what's going on here? There appears to be some confusion about our place in the U.S.' racial hierarchy. While Latinidad is an ethnic identity, not a racial one, and Latines come in every race, it's true that the U.S. has attempted to racialize Latinidad in an effort to mark us, even the white Latines among us, as different than the Anglo, gringo, or White-with-a-capital-W people who see themselves as the 'real' Americans. But if you're not Black, you shouldn't say the N-word. It's that simple. And while some Latines are Black, many are not — including Escobar, Lopez, and Rodriguez. Their Latinidad doesn't give them (or anyone) honorary Black status. Living in neighborhoods that are majority Black doesn't give non-Black Latines Black status. Dating someone who is Black doesn't give non-Black Latines Black status. Having Black relatives doesn't give non-Black Latines Black status. Feeling a shared struggle with Black folks does not give non-Black Latines Black status. ' "Oftentimes, those non-Black Latines who throw the N-word around casually, like it's theirs to hurl, want to have it both ways. When it suits them, they're 'women of color' who want street cred and access to Black communities. But when they see it as more advantageous to align with non-Latine white people, they switch." cristina escobar ' Oftentimes, those non-Black Latines who throw the N-word around casually, like it's theirs to hurl, want to have it both ways. When it suits them, they're 'women of color' who want street cred and access to Black communities. But when they see it as more advantageous to align with non-Latine white people, they switch. Think of Lopez playing an Italian woman in 2001's The Wedding Planner — yes, the same year she released that version of 'I'm Real.' And as the last election cycle has shown, large portions of Latines are aligning themselves with whiteness, including those who are themselves racially white but also many who are not but hope their proximity to whiteness, their allegiance to whiteness, will guard them from the country's racial war against "the other" — even white "others" with Spanish surnames. And when that happens, we get Trump in the White House, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers terrorizing our communities, and an authoritarian regime that is making Latin American dictators jealous. And as more Latine Trump supporters around the country are realizing amid massive ICE raids, this white loyalty won't save them — it never has and it never will. As a group and as individuals, we need to have a better understanding of what it means to be a non-Black Latine. We need to have the conversations — about ethnicity versus race, about privilege, and about organizing for social justice. There are plenty of people who think the whole concept of Latinidad is a sham, that either it reinforces white supremacy by marking us as different from Black and Indigenous folks or it hurts us by marking us (even the European-descended people among us) as not-white. I see truth in both of these takes. But what if we used the Latine marker as an organizing principle to call for change? We could be a powerful force inside the U.S. if we were better organized. After all, we're the biggest 'minority,' we account for most of the nation's growth, and we'd be the fifth-largest economy in the world if we were counted by ourselves. But too often we fail to leverage that power to advance our needs. Instead, more than a third of Latines lie to themselves and their communities about what their identity means in the United States today. We need to call them out and call them in. Yes, maybe Chicanas have a different frame than Cuban Americans. Maybe experiences in the Northeast look different from those in the Southwest. Maybe someone who looks like Escobar believes her pretty privilege will carry her through whatever mess her surname and ethnicity might get her into — and maybe, where she's from, it has. ' "We need to have a better understanding of what it means to be a non-Black Latine. We need to have the conversations — about ethnicity versus race, about privilege, and about organizing for social justice." ' But regardless of our individual circumstances, we need to get to work if we're ever going to stop being 'sleeping giants' and just be giants. First, we need accountability. I'm glad Escobar got booted from Love Island USA, but white-led corporations are going to be doing less and less of that stuff as we descend further into Trump's second term. So what can we do? Escobar has nearly 70,000 followers on her Instagram — if you're one of them, consider unfollowing her and telling her why: that using the N-word is unacceptable and so is voting against the rights of the racially and ethnically marginalized. When folks online or in your personal life do racist things, don't let it slide. Tell them it's unacceptable around you and mean it. Additionally, follow Black people online and support their work. If you want more examples of why Escobar's path is so foolish, I recommend Franchesca Ramsey's feed. Her 'I never thought the leopards would eat my fact' bit is a hilariously evergreen diddy about how quickly those who claim proximity to whiteness will see that their allegiance does not protect them. ' "We need to get to work if we're ever going to stop being 'sleeping giants' and just be giants." ' That brings me to being in actual alliance with Black communities, whether they're also Latine or not. Stop begrudging their success — Black communities didn't take anything from non-Black Latines — and, instead, support their artists, marches, and ballot measures without trying to take over or make them about you. Encourage your non-Black Latine friends and family members to do the same. Finally, let's learn from them. Black folks in the U.S. have been organizing for a more just society — that benefits all of us — for a long time. They've built a community consensus and institutions that we could emulate. Let's learn and see where we get. I bet it'll be a lot better than watching one of ours implode on Love Island USA while ICE disappears people — non-citizens and citizens alike — on U.S. streets.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
'Survivor' winner Luciano Plazibat reacts to the gays flooding his DMs
Between winning Survivor Croatia and going viral with a video of himself singing and dancing to "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga, this has been a very special Pride Month for Luciano Plazibat. Now, the professional dancer and reality TV heartthrob is spilling some tea about his run on the show, his connection with Lady Gaga, and the response he's been getting from the gays since that viral video. Sign up for the to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment — delivered three times a week straight (well…) to your inbox! "I have to admit that being on Survivor Croatia was never on my wish list, let alone imagining that I could win," Plazibat tells Out. "I always thought Survivor was more for the 'manly men,' for lack of a better word. Guys who excel at sports. And I'm a dancer. This could also be my upbringing talking, but [I thought] a dancer is for Dancing With the Stars, and athletic men go to Survivor." He adds, "I found that being a dancer definitely helped in the physical challenges on the show, so I changed my own mind and proved to myself that I'm capable of different things — even if I didn't necessarily plan for them. Survivor is hard; it was one of the most challenging experiences of my life. But after being on the show, I feel that not much else will be harder than that." Though Plazibat is still recovering from competing on (and winning) Survivor Croatia, the 26-year-old spent the weekend celebrating Zagreb Pride, has his 27th birthday coming up in a week — Monday, June 23 — and wants to attend Tomorrowland this year. "We're the best of friends, but she doesn't know it yet," Plazibat jokes when asked about Mother Monster. "Just kidding!" In reality, the Survivor winner was 10 years old when he first saw Gaga "coming out of that pool in the 'Poker Face' music video," adding: "I thought to myself, 'I need to have that mask, but also those bangs.' And the rest is history; I was a fan ever since." Plazibat says that being a Gaga fan has "kept me going as a dancer" over the years. "I'm still working towards one day performing [with her] and being on stage myself," he explains. "Name any one of her songs and I can dance it out right now." And yet, that creative connection with Gaga actually took an even more personal turn while Plazibat competed on Survivor Croatia. "In week two, some of the contestants made fun of me for being her fan. They even mentioned it as one of the reasons why I should be kicked out… half-jokingly, probably," he recalls. "But, to me, it became like a symbol of staying on Survivor. The longer I stayed, the more I would sing and dance." Plazibat's also proud to reveal that loving Lady Gaga is a family affair. "After two months of being on the show, we received video messages from our families, and my father quoted Lady Gaga in his video message," the Survivor Croatia star notes. "He wanted to motivate me, and send his support, and he knew exactly what to do." Meet Plazibat family😂 #moreenergy #passion #family #fyp The very online gays were introduced to Plazibat through his viral video of "Abracadabra," which was filmed after he had already won Survivor. The Croatian series — airing on Nova TV since 2022 — shared that video on its official Instagram page, which took Plazibat by surprise. "That video was actually filmed before my final interview on the TV studio. We were waiting for the interview to start," he explains. "Me being me, I felt like the room needed some entertainment; a little bit of 'Abracadabra.'" As far as Plazibat knew, he was just trying to entertain himself and the production crew while the equipment was set up for his final interview. Though he was mic'd and knew the cameras were on, he didn't realize that the footage of him singing and dancing "Abracadabra" before his final interview would ever be used. "It was a surprise to me to when the channel decided to post that," he says, adding that he also didn't expect that the video would go so viral. "I was very surprised, but also very happy, that the Little Monster community picked up on it." "Picked up on it" is an understatement: The video has gotten millions of views, and has reached way more people than just Little Monsters. The official Instagram page for Survivor Croatia first shared Plazibat's "Abracadabra" video on Saturday, May 24. Overall, the video has already reached 1.2 million views. On Wednesday, May 28 — just four days later — Plazibat's video was re-shared on X/Twitter and got a new wave of very thirsty (and very queer!) responses. "A contestant on Survivor sang Abracadabra," X/Twitter user @nichblink wrote along with the video, which can be seen below. This clip alone has reached 4.8 million views as of this writing — including 41,000 likes, 8,000 bookmarks, and 3,300 re-shares. Popular responses to the viral X/Twitter video include: "A big ass Chromatica tattoo." — @nichblink"The clap being precisely on beat is so satisfying." — @RandomSisco"Even the bulge was hyped af." — @volevonasceref"He can abracadabra his d*ck in my h*le." — @veterangagastan"Oh he has the choreo DOWN!! He even paused for the slayage at the end." — @MztrGaga"His bulge [face exhaling]." — @everardojnrr"I need him to abra my cadabra." — @cuutehoney"I see some magic I want to do a trick on." — @LosTexasDiablo Plazibat has accumulated 17 million likes and 348,700 followers on TikTok (@lucianoplazibat), 117,000 followers on Instagram (@lucianoplazibat), and 5,000 followers on X/Twitter (@PlazibatLuciano) as of this writing. Specifically, he's gained 9,500 followers on Instagram and 7,000 followers on TikTok since that viral "Abracadabra" video (via Social Blade). When asked about the reception of the video, Plazibat reveals that quite a few gays have been sliding into his DMs. "But who doesn't enjoy a little bit of flirting in the DMs? Or, in this case, a lot of flirting in the DMs." Wildest response to the video so far? "A certain adult movie actor re-posted my video on his story and wrote, 'Marry me.' And that's nice, right? Because usually it's the other way around." And, if anyone's curious, Plazibat confirms during this Out interview that he is indeed gay and single. Even when facing no-so-positive reactions to the viral video, Plazibat remains unbothered — and even friendly. "I figured out why Luciano Plazibat is irritating to me, and the sad truth is because the guy is actually happy, and it radiates from him. I'm just jealous and projecting," X user @trjkvcnkl wrote on Friday, May 30. Plazibat reacted to that X post, writing: "Hahahahaha, Nikola, let's grab some coffee." So, what's next for the Survivor Croatia winner? "Right now I'm taking some time off for the summer," he says. "I have some offers and plans for future projects in the fall, but nothing confirmed yet." "But, whatever I do, I'll see to it that it's always something creative and entertaining for me and for others. Everyone needs a little bit of 'Abracadabra' right now," Plazibat says. Ne znam mogu li bit luđi od ovoga… GLEDAMO SE USKORO!! Na mom instagramu imate više o ovome! Ali zasada dijelim samo ovo!! SURVIVOR 2025 !!! IM BACK 🔥🕷️♥️😂💪🏼 #survivor2025 #survivor #survivorbalkan #survivorhrvatska #survivorserbia
