French Connection: Le Burger!

As I was recently walking in the streets of two French cities, Tours and Bordeaux, I could not help but notice the growing French appetite for hamburgers. Yes, hamburgers! And it was not bifteck haché, served with a side of frites, it was the one we all know quite well, a minced meat patty sandwiched in a bun. 

The French burger craze has been a phenomenon in the past years. It started like a new fashion in Paris, but it proves that it was not a seasonal fad. There was even a Parisian magazine Paris-Burger launched in 2013, dedicated solely to burgers, which still exists. Apparently, the founder and editor-in-chief, Julien Lacheray, was a visionary, and despite the risk of becoming repetitive and boring, the magazine managed to survive, and obviously contributed to the hamburger awakening of the French reviewing hundreds of burgers in the capital. Nowadays, the wonderful French baguette sandwiches are more for the tourists; wedges of Camembert tucked into a crusty loaf, or the classic "jambon beurre," the ham and butter baguette, do not seem to be as popular as before. Hamburger has a more honored status now; for most French, it takes place of a good dinner in a traditional sit-down restaurant. Many bistros include at least one burger in the menu, along with foie gras and other French fare. Even at the corner McDo in Tours, the waitresses were serving the orders to the outdoor tables; it was not even completely self-service. The American hamburger, the once scorned fast-food grub becomes the chic "Le Burger," a cool new item on French menus. 

While Le Burger invades France with all its very American condiments such as mayo, ketchup and mustard, we must remind that two of these inseparable accompaniments do have a French connection: the mayo and the...