French Fry Diary 498: Strategic Dripping and the Juicy Lucy Burger

I was reading about making homemade Juicy Lucy burgers this morning and it occurred to me that I had never talked about 'strategic dripping' on the blog before. But first things first, I know there are folks out there who are more interested in what a Juicy Lucy is before I get to strategic dripping.

The Juicy Lucy burger (also known as the Jucy Lucy), like the burger itself, and even the favorite fried food, has an iffy past. Many folks claim to have created it, but the name comes from Minneapolis where two different bars lay claim. It's basically an inside-out cheeseburger. The cheese is on the inside of the burger instead of on top of it. You take a bite of the burger and get a mouthful of hot cheese.

Right there, after that wonderful hot cheesy mouthful, that's where strategic dripping comes in. The idea is to drip the cheese (and if it's made right, trust me, the cheese will melt and drip out of the burger) right over your fries. Instant cheese fries.

This technique can also be used in almost any fry dipping situation. Cheese, barbecue sauce, ketchup if you prefer (I don't, but your mileage may vary), pretty much everything except ice cream or milkshake - cold doesn't work well. But the idea is to spread the joy, shall we say. There you go, strategic dipping.