When I was a little
girl, my mother would take me out to lunch once a month. One of my
favorite places to eat was the Jade Room Restaurant contained within one of St.
Louis' two big department stores, Famous-Barr (now Macy's). This was back
in the day when people would dress to go out to dine. No slacks
allowed! A hostess would seat us, and while we waited for our meals,
beautifully dressed models would walk among the tables wearing the latest
fashions available in the store, well-accessorized, and bearing the fragrance
du jour. Sometimes they would stop at our table and describe what they
were wearing, its price and size availability. For a ten-year-old girl like me,
it was magical! Sometimes my dad would meet us for lunch, but mostly it
was just mother and me. My lunch order never varied: hamburger,
chocolate milk, and Jell-O.
As I got older the
lunches continued, but the dress code relaxed and the menu changed. No
longer did I order the hamburger, but the John White Burger, a decadent
hamburger sandwich with crispy onions and melted cheese. I crave that
burger to this day. It was named for one of the cooks from the Clayton
location of Famous-Barr, and was eventually offered at all of May Company's
department-store restaurants. It stayed on the menus until White died and his
heirs sued over use of the name.
In 2000, Eric Dahl,
longtime chef for Famous-Barr, told Judith Evans of the Post-Dispatch the
secret to the burger is the onions. Slice them thinly, and then cook in 1/2
inch of hot oil or shortening. Remove onions when they are light brown; if you
cook them too long, they will become bitter. Drain well on paper towels.
To assemble the burgers, use toasted buns, grilled or broiled hamburger patties
made from ground beef that is 85 percent lean, the onions, and a rarebit sauce
thick enough to stay on the burgers.
Dahl said the sauce
included American cheese, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Here is a
recipe that seems to fit the bill, at least it certainly pleased me this
evening!
RAREBIT SAUCE FOR
JOHN WHITE BURGERS
1/2 pound American
cheese, cut into thin slices
3/4 cup
half-and-half
1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry
mustard
Place cheese in the
top of a double boiler. Add half-and-half, Worcestershire and mustard. Cook
over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts.
Yield: 4
servings.
Recipe adapted
from The Fairy Tale Cookbook by Carol MacGregor.
