Starting this Thursday Burger King is extending hours at its U.S. locations into the wee hours, specifically 2 a.m. or later. Don't get too excited night owls; the late-night munchies friendly sked only runs from Thursday to Saturday. It makes me wonder whether BK's looking to compete with White Castle, long the late-night go-to meal for drunks and stoners alike. I can't remember the last time I ate at a Burger King. Sadly, I can remember the last time I ate at a White Castle.
Folks who are creeped out by the plastic-faced King will be glad to know that he's not the point man for this campaign. BK has appointed Sean "Diddy" Combs as its new late-night ambassador. I don't watch much television these days, but according to the press release the first TV spot, "Diddy's Way," has begun airing. I wonder if the commercial features an urban-contemporary take on the Burger King song. One thing's for sure. Since it's directed by Spike Lee, the content has got to better than the stuff on Diddy's BK-sponsored Youtube channel.
Do you have a White Castle in your vicinity? If you do, you should get yourself over there today because 2 pm and and 3:27 pm. During that hour and 27 minute window, you can score up to 10 of their classic sliders for a mere $.27. They are offering this deal in honor of National Hamburger Month. Sadly, I won't be able to partake, as they don't have a single restaurant in Pennsylvania, but it should be a fun and cheap way to get an afternoon treat.
Once more, an intrepid home cook has taken a innocent food item and elevated it to a place of crunchy, fried goodness. Today I offer you the battered and fried White Castle slider! I find this concept disgusting and yet there's a part of me that is whispering, "You could try that at home, you have a deep fryer!" Mostly, I just want to try a single bite, in order to be able to say, "Yes, I tasted that!"
Okay folks, I must ask. What's the craziest thing you've ever fried?
Every year for the last 16, the White Castle restaurant chain has run a contest in which they ask people to create a recipe that uses 10 White Castle hamburgers. Leslye Lewis, this year's winner was crowned on Monday and won the top honors for her creation that she calls, "The Latkes You Crave."
The recipe takes the hamburger patties off the buns and crumbles them into a batter of potato, onion, flour, eggs and seasonings. They are then cooked in vegetable oil and served warm with traditional latke sides (applesauce and sour cream). If you want to make your own White Castle latkes you are in luck, as the recipe is after the jump.
Other finalist dishes (all made out of White Castle sliders) included dim sum, a White Castle Ruben Bake, a Seven-Layer Burger and a White Casterole Breakfast Bake.
As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of both White Castle and barbecue. So when I read that the Castle was experimenting with pulled pork on a bun, my reaction was a, long-drawn out "Nooooooo!!"
Is nothing sacred? Seems to me that two great American traditions, the State's first hamburger chain and barbecue, would be sullied by the Castle's introduction of pulled pork. That's not to say I have anything against pulled pork on a miniature bun. Done right, it's tasty as hell and a more healthful portion than the gigantic sandwiches one usually eats at barbecue joints.
Sadly I don't think the Castle is going to do justice to pulled pork. And I'm not just saying that because I want to lump their new product in the McRib category. Further reading of the article in Nation's Restaurant News (registration required) reveals that it will arrive at the store's frozen. I can't help but feel that it will also be saturated with liquid smoke and have the consistency of cat food.
I hope my suspicions about the quality of the Castle's pulled pork are wrong. All of a sudden, I'm craving a pulled pork slyder topped with an onion ring.
Before anyone ever heard of Harold, much less Kumar, before the invention of the Crave campaign, before the word Slyder was trademarked I was a teenage White Castle worker. On this last day of National Hamburger Month I'd like to share my memories of working at America's oldest hamburger chain, as well as my thoughts on its present state of affairs.
I started working at White Castle during my senior year in high school. I'd eaten their burgers with my folks as a kid and had enjoyed their "restorative" effects after drinking with my buddies. We used to call the tasty little suckers "White Crapples." When one opened in my neighborhood, I figured what the hell, and applied for a job. After management determined I had a pulse and some level of manual dexterity, however minimal, I was hired.
Back then the uniform was slightly different than it is today. I remember wearing a brown shirt and a baseball cap. All burger cooking was done in clear view. To the left of the register, customers watched their square patties being steam-grilled. I still remember the time a Little League team ordered 100 burgers. Instead of letting the line back up, we opened another station and got to work.
Once after blowing a joint with my co-worker Max, the burgers on my flat top started burning. As I stared into space, he sounded the alarm by screaming, "Bang your head" at me. He averted disaster by ladling onion water onto my griddle. Back then there was no shortage of onion water, since we used dehydrated onions. Small dust clouds would form as we poured dried diced onion into stainless buckets before adding water.
It's five-for-one day here at Slashfood. Just kidding, who could possibly eat only one slider, much less make a meal of it. Hence today's headline. These specimens come from Powers Hamburgers in Fort Wayne, Ind. Powers is that town's answer to White Castle, i.e. a late-night establishment for when the mood strikes. I must say they look a helluva lot better than White Castle. For one thing, they're smothered in sauteed onions. I've had Krystal burgers and they were a step above the Castle's. These greasy little wonders appear to be a on whole other level all together.
It's that time of year again, when the air is filled with the scent of flowers and minds are filled with thoughts of love, romance and - what else? - White Castle. The burger joint is having their annual Valentine's Day celebration, complete with white tablecloths, candles, roses and tableside service from your own personal server. It's definitely a class act, especially if you take a cue from some of the people who have visited White Castle with their Valentines in the past, driving up in limos and dressed to the nines in tuxedos and fancy dresses.
New this year is a take-home version of the romantic meal: Cupid's Crave Kits. These takeaway meals include eight cheeseburgers, one sack of fries, two regular soft drinks, coupons and "keepsake items to heat up your homespun romance." Unfortunately, the website doesn't disclose what the "keepsake items" are, so you'll have to check out a participating store to see for yourself.
The romantic dinner only lasts from 5 to 8 p.m. on February 14th and reservations are required for both in-store and take-home meals.
You wouldn't guess it based on the posts today, but the Slashfood team really isn't totally biased in favor of the Colts in today's Super Bowl. It just happens that Joanne showed a good offense all week supporting the Bears, and Indianapolis took some time to find its foodish ground and is coming on strong in the end.
Now White Castle burgers are not really from Indianapolis. In fact, the first store was built in Wichita, Kansas, and today, the headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. However, that doesn't seem to keep Indy-ites (Indy-ans?) from mentioning White Castle Slyders when thinking of food from home. Unfortunately for us Indy fans in California, there are no White Castle restaurants anywhere in the state. I resorted to buying the frozen burgers from the grocery store, and while I have to say that wrapping two little burgers in a paper towel and microwaving them made me frown, and the dry taste of the bun and the sad little flap of meat inside was a little disappointing, I still felt supportive.
As someone whose second meal yesterday was a late supper at a local sushi bar, preceded by a lunch of a succulent chicken shawarma platter chock full of bits of crunchy skin, the very idea of a near-starvation diet that may increase longevity engenders nothing less than sheer horror.
Adherents of Calorie Restriction follow a diet that leaves their bodies close to starvation in the hopes that such a regimen will radically increase their life span. Or so I learned yesterday after reading a fascinating article about it in this month's New YorkMagazine.
The author, Julian Dibbell, gives the movement a fair shake. He cites scientific evidence that curtailing caloric intake in mice increases their life span 50 percent. He also makes what I consider a monumental sacrifice by toeing the CR line for two months.
I haven't had a chance to see it yet but I heard that the venerable White Castle, beloved of drunks and masochists everywhere, has a new TV ad that involves container sniffing. That's right, container sniffing. While I've been known to have a murderburger now then, I have no need to participate in the olfactory aftermath of a crave session.
The hook of the spot is that the handlebar-moustached protagonist has no White Castle in his town, so his buddy sends him empty containers to torture him. It starts out with him sniffing a Slyder box and sighing rhapsodically and then moving on to smelling a different variety, "This one's different ... Garlic cheese. Nice."
Believe it or not the ad is based on a true story that was sent to White Castle's Columbus, Ohio-based headquarters. I'd love to hear from anyone else who misses a fast food chain so much that they're driven to near pathological behavior.
What is is it about May anyway? Do all the food marketers awaken from their collective winter slumbers
simultaneously? Not only is it National Pimiento Month and National Barbecue
Month. Turns out it's also National Hamburger Month.
The sponsor of this monthlong meatfest is none
other than White Castle, arguably America's first hamburger chain. While I
confess to succumbing to the crave, usually at 4:00AM while out doing "field work," I have mixed
feelings about the Castle's sponsorship of National Hamburger Month. Perhaps this ambivalence stems from traumatic
experiences I had working there as a teen. White Castle is also celebrating its 85th birthday this month and will have
folks from its main office working in selected locations.
If your sweetheart is a little less high-maintenance than most, or if you're just a terrific redneck or a
class clown, why not try White Castle for Valentine's Day? The ultimate in low-class burger joints is taking
reservations for February 14, you know, just in case the other ones are booked.
What's more, the burger joint is offering candlelit dinners in most of its outlets. Funniest of all, though, is one
Indianapolis White Castle manager's quote: "In the 84 years we've been in business, you know there have got to be
some love stories out there where, 'We met at White Castle,' stuff like that."
Does there really got to be? I hazard a guess that these stories are rare. You tell me. If
there's someone out there whose first date with an eventual spouse was at a White Castle, sweetie, I've got to
meet you.
Every year for the last 16, the 
Before anyone ever heard of Harold, much less Kumar, before the invention of the Crave campaign, before the word Slyder was trademarked I was a teenage White Castle worker. On this last day of National Hamburger Month I'd like to share my memories of working at America's oldest hamburger chain, as well as my thoughts on its present state of affairs.
It's that time of year again, when the air is filled with the scent of flowers and minds are filled with thoughts of love, romance and - what else? - 
As someone whose second meal yesterday was a late supper at a local sushi bar, preceded by a lunch of a succulent chicken shawarma platter chock full of bits of crunchy skin, the very idea of a near-starvation diet that may increase longevity engenders nothing less than sheer horror.
I haven't had a chance to see it yet but I heard that the venerable 
What is is it about May anyway? Do all the food marketers awaken from their collective winter slumbers
simultaneously? Not only is it 
New York Times Magazine's food issue
Chicken McNuggets frolic at New York City pet store
Eat your broccoli orbs! 
