Thursday, January 17, 2008
White Castle at home
Larry Bly
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When I was a kid I'm pretty sure we'd occasionally stop by a White Castle restaurant in the D.C. area. In fact, the tiny white building is still there, near Georgetown, where we'd pick up a bag of those wonderful White Castle burgers.
If not, it's the best memory I've never had. But I am sure that I've enjoyed these little slyders, (that's how they spell sliders) many times in my past.
D.C. had some of the early franchises, like A&W Root Beer stands, The Hot Shoppes (a combination fast-food and sit-down cafeteria), and some of the first McDonald's. In fact, you've no doubt heard that my old pal, Willard Scott, was the original Ronald McDonald.
White Castle claims to be the oldest franchise in America, dating to 1921. The small square burgers sold for five cents until the 1940s and remained at 10 cents for a few more decades. The franchise came up with its standard, tiny building, prefabricated to be easily and quickly assembled about anywhere, featuring a white exterior and tower to resemble a medieval castle, supposedly based on the Chicago Water Tower, which stands on Michigan Avenue. The interiors are stainless steel.
Walter Anderson, the founder, also developed an efficient method for cooking hamburgers, using freshly ground beef and fresh onions. The recipe stays true to its origins to this day, though there are also cheeseburgers, fries, jalapeno cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, onion chips, chicken rings, mozzarella cheese sticks, hash browns, and host of breakfast items.
The reason that I mention any of this is that during the holidays, I very much enjoyed White Castle cheeseburgers at private cocktail party. So where'd they get them? I had visions of my friends sneaking them across state lines from some far-flung Castle.
Turns out the answer was a bit more common: Sam's Club. So many people are depending on Sam's these days for party food, that I'm afraid that a certain sameness might become the norm. Don't get me wrong, these pre-fab foods are terrific -- and they save a ton of time. I have a friend who does catering and she sometimes just takes the stuff out of a box, adds a homemade sauce or slaps a little parsley on the side, and then adds about 100 percent to the price. Instant caterer. But I digress.
Those of us who grew up enjoying White Castle slyders are thrilled that they now offer them frozen, several dozen to a box. I ran right out and bought some for myself and I'm real stingy about who I share them with -- if I share them at all. The cheeseburgers actually taste about like they would if you picked them up at a Castle to-go window. You can prepare them in bulk by putting them on a broiler pan with some water in the bottom. Just follow the instructions, which stipulates that you put foil over them so they steam (a secret to the bun's lovely consistency) until thawed and hot.
But if you're not sharing them, they come two to a package and you simply poke a few holes in the plastic and microwave it on "high" for 60 seconds. The plastic holds in the moisture and the bun is steamed as it cooks. By the way, White Castle has its own bakeries for these precious little buns. This is a great frozen product.
Just as the regulars of our own downtown institution, The Texas Tavern, understand the lingo of that place: "Give me a bowl with" (a bowl of chili with onions), so too do the regular customers of White Castle. "A sack of six with both" means you'll get six burgers with both ketchup and mustard. "Both" might also refer to a third condiment available, which is a combination of mustard and ketchup in a single bottle, thus saving the trouble of using each individually. It may look and sound yukky, but it's a matter of convenience -- all the faster to get a slyder down your gullet.
The frozen White Castle burgers are available with American cheese or without but you won't get the traditional pickle. Apparently pickles get mushy when frozen, so they've made this one single concession to make them available only in stores. They don't tell us what kind of pickle they normally use, but you might wish to have a jar of your favorites standing by for just such occasions.
It seems like the country's first franchise has found a great way to expand their business well beyond the tiny white buildings that made them famous: frozen through grocery stores. But if you want the other foods they offer, you'll still have to stop by a Castle wherever you can find one.
