The Food of America: The Burger

Burgers and America are practically synonymous. Forget the apple pie. You don’t pick up apple pie on the way home from a busy day, you don’t fire up the grill every summer weekend for apple pie, there are not tons of eateries on every corner offering apple pie. The food of America is the hamburger. But why is this relatively simple concept so tantalizingly good? It is, after all, just a meat patty with some toppings slapped on a few buns. In most cases, the quality is even questionable. Yes, there are many burger joints that have popped up offering a “better” product, and the Shake Shacks and In-N-Outs of the world are certainly spectacular, but McDonald’s still reigns supreme.

So, what are they doing to that Big Mac that makes it so tasty? After all, you’d be hard pressed to find an individual who denies a Big Mac doesn’t sound amazing most of the time. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun. It’s a simple, yet delicious concoction.

One reason you’re salivating over the thought of a Big Mac right now is due to the fact that the burger contains all three macronutrients — protein, fat and carbs. Each of these alone can excite the physiological systems. Add them all together and you’ve got an almost too-good-to-resist combo (no pun intended). Additionally, the Big Mac’s secret sauce contains all the scientific components that make food simply taste good and it provides one crucial element — moisture. The majority of high end cuisines encourage salivation. The best foods, after all, make you salivate. Salivation starts an entire chain reaction of neurological processes that leads to a sensory reward. Introduce a food that’s overly dry, that’s capable of soaking in all that salivation before your mouth can make more, and that experience is over.

It’s easy to see that humans also like variety. Maybe it was once a biological evolution to force our simple ancestors to find varied, life-giving diets, but now it just means we need to mix up the textures of a dish a bit. It’s why the best salads are more than just a bowl of vegetables — they have berries, nuts and the perfect amount of dressing. It’s why a great bowl of ice cream is more than just the ice cream — it’s the hot fudge sauce, the chopped nuts, the whipped cream and the cherry on top. It just so happens that the Big Mac has the perfect cornucopia of flavor and texture contrasts. There are 13 total layers on a Big Mac: the top bun, onions, meat, pickles, lettuce, sauce, middle bun, onions, meat, cheese, lettuce, sauce and bottom bun. The formula never allows for too much of one thing to be near more of the same, and your mouth gets the pleasure of sorting through a variety of tastes, smells, textures and temperatures. McDonald’s has discovered the perfect blend of contrasts and it is the Big Mac.

To top it all off, the Big Mac’s high caloric density means it’s extra rewarding for our bodies. While not as calorie-dense as, say, chocolate, you’re still getting a large amount of your calories in one compact package.

So, the next time you can barely keep from drooling at a fast food commercial, or you’re stuck feeling a little conflicted about the best option for a dinner on the go, don’t blame yourself. A Big Mac, and other burgers like it, have hit nearly every pleasure receptor we’ve got. It’s great marketing and great product development, and it’s all based on science.