Aussie burgers: Why do Australians put beetroot in burgers?
Australians often put slices of beetroot in burgers. Be prepared to ask for a burger without beetroot when you order, and avoid anything labelled an Aussie Burger.
There comes a terrible time in every visitor’s trip to Australia when they encounter the terrorist attacks Australians commit on burgers.
Now, it is perfectly possible to get a really good burger in Australia. There are, in fact, several truly excellent burgers in Australia. But there are also some dreadful horrors, largely because Australians occasionally insist on putting beetroot in burgers.
Any person of sound mind will be well aware that putting beetroot in burgers is an absolutely appalling idea. Sliced beetroot has a strong, some would say dominating, taste. It also stains everything around it a violent pinkish-purple.
What are Aussie Burgers?
But putting beetroot in burgers is an unfortunate habit Down Under. Sometimes it is combined with egg, pineapple and heaven knows what else under the banner of an “Aussie Burger”. Obviously, an Aussie Burger along these lines is essentially inedible as a burger. It slops all over the place, it’s basically damp, and it comes apart in the hands.
But why do Australians put beetroot in burgers? Is it a nation of psychopaths, intent on inflicting maximum damage on anyone who breaches its borders? Is it some sort of masochistic penance for past wrongs? Or is a Satanic ritual that has somehow slipped into the mainstream?
How to avoid beetroot in burgers
You can do all the research you like, and you’ll not come up with a satisfactory explanation. Essentially, at some point in the past, it was communally decided that beetroot is an acceptable thing to put in salads. And given that salad goes on burgers, then surely beetroot goes on burgers too?
The critical thing is not to know why it happens, but to be aware that it does happen. If you’re ordering food in Sydney, Melbourne and particularly country pubs, prepare to ask for your burger without the beetroot. At least at Australian gourmet burger chains such as Burger Urge, the option with beetroot will be written on the menu.
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