There should also be Tuscan Pepperoncini (she likes Mezzetta brand) and two types of mustard, both Dijon, one whole grain, one smooth. The lettuce must be iceberg, one crisp cupped leaf per burger. Sliced red onion -- one full slice per person. (Silverton salts and peppers the onions.)
Tomatoes: Right now, there should be thick slices of bun-size heirloom tomatoes. Brandywines, Russians, Beefsteak. There should be avocados, bought a week early to control the ripening. These should be sliced thickly, or they will turn to mush: in quarters or, at the smallest, in sixths. A light dressing of lemon will help prevent them from browning in the dish, but too much lemon will make them taste citric, so she recommends tossing in some chives to disguise inevitable blemishing.
There should be bacon (applewood-smoked), cooked short of crispness so it doesn't shatter in the mouth. Because people will pilfer from the toppings, you should cook two strips per guest.
No point in spoiling good meat with bad cheese. There should be a choice of three cheeses, she said: blue, cheddar and Gruyere. She had Point Reyes blue, Grafton cheddar and cave-aged Gruyere. Nicolas Beckman, who oversees the cheese counter at La Brea Bakery shop, also recommends Fiscalini or Straus cheddar.
"The blue and cheddar should be crumbled," said Silverton, holding out dishes brimming with broken cheese, "so they can be sprinkled on. That way you get to watch it melt. The Gruyere, this has to be served in slices."
And so to the meat. The morning of her burger party, Silverton sent me to her butcher, Huntington Meats at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. As I read from the order that she prepared, I asked for whole prime chuck, which already has 10% to 15% fat, to be ground with 13% sirloin fat added by weight.
The butcher smiled. "Nancy Silverton sent you, didn't she?" he asked.
It turned out that Huntington's lean mix has 5% fat, its standard mix 10% to 15%, but what they fondly called "Nancy's blend" has more like 20% to 28%.
"That's what gives the flavor," said the butcher. "Coarse ground, right?"
The difference, not just in flavor but also in texture, and pure out-of-this-world pleasure, would only become clear when I got the meat back to Silverton.
*
The patty, just so
