Let me begin by saying de gustibus non disputandum est —in matters of taste there can be no dispute. However, I am puzzled by the way the Irish make their burgers.
The beef in this country is the freshest, most delicious I have ever tasted in my life. [apologies vegetarians] When I cook it at home I always marvel at the difference between this beef and the offering in the States. It is light years better. Despite this superior quality meat, I have been regularly surprised by the Irish burger. Every restaurant, with the exception of fast food establishments, makes their burgers with fillings. As in, bread crumbs, egg, seasonings and possibly other ingredients like chopped onion or chilies. To me this is meatloaf or a meatball like you would make to go with spaghetti, not a burger!
I was confused when a friend asked me what I put in my burgers. “What do you mean?” I said. “Nothing! A little salt and freshly ground pepper on the outside and then throw it on the grill!“ I have even seen my friends post social media pics of their ‘burger recipes’. Photos of a bunch of stuff going into the food processor that will be added to the ground beef [beef mince as its called here] and then fried or grilled on the barbecue. And it looks like a huge production for what should be the simplest and most tasty of sandwiches. Pinterest, I discovered, is loaded with ‘burger recipes’. This is astonishing! What’s my burger recipe? Meat. End of story.
Maybe I am the oddball… maybe its just a regional Pennsylvania thing? I doubt it though. I can’t remember ever having a meatloaf style burger in a restaurant outside Ireland. However, as I said in the beginning, tastes are personal. So if that’s how you like your burgers Ireland, who am I to complain? I’ll just have to remember when I go a restaurant, that what I get on the bun is not going to be what I am accustomed to. Or, you know, just order the fish and chips!
Meg Sorick, Author/Artist 
It’s not just Ireland Meg, most of the UK do it too. Maybe it started because beef was an expensive meat and to bulk it out people started to add ingredients to make it go further!
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I wondered about the UK…. That’s a very likely explanation. It’s not that I don’t care for the ingredients added in, just reserved for meatballs and meatloaf! 😃
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Yes same here. x
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Hi – I think less is more and let the flavor sleep from the meat and good sea salt
And side note – just heard a program (think NPR) where meatball recipes were more than half bread.
Hey had their reasons, but sadly I think sometimes there is an agenda to make meat the bad guy – there are lies in the culture about what this nutritional food item is and does
Of course a little bread and egg can change the texture and all that so not all bad – but it seems like there has been a huge push to make meat (esp red meat) a bad thing
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All things in moderation! And yes I certainly don’t mind the mixture of the ingredients, just in the right context. Meatballs made that way are great but I prefer the burger to be stand alone. 😀
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☺️🌼🌼🌼
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Well, I won’t attempt to account for Irish taste, but the food-stretching theory is quite plausible. Surely many in Ireland have at least tried an American-style burger at some point?
Mine get salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder. Cooked medium-rare to medium. Mmm-mmmmm!
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Yes, the food stretching makes total sense. And I’m sure they must be familiar with at least American fast food burgers. McDonald’s and Burger King are here. And their own fast food restaurant: Supermacs makes American style burgers. I guess old habits die hard though!
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That is wierd. I prefer plaimeat. Steak tartar is good too if served plain with capers etc. on the side.
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Growing up in OH, my mom was big on “stretching” the meat we ate, so burgers always had some bread crumbs in there. My guys complain when I do that now, so I stick to just meat, S&P, and, of course Old Bay, because we’re in MD!
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Oh yes old bay! Yum! I am craving ‘crab fries’ now!
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Oh yes, Old Bay on fries, eggs with scrapple–just about everything! Ha!
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