I want to tell you the story of Bubu Burger.

Bubu Burger is a singular hamburger stand located in the city of Nice, which is in the South of France. If you don't know, Nice it's a very old port city that it's famous for it's culinary cuisine which is mostly based on seafood as it's right up against the Mediterranean Sea. 

One thing Nice is not known for his hamburgers in fact I'd go as far to say that France as a country Really is it known at all for hamburgers. 


France of course had a long sending history of making fun of American cuisine and not without its reason; we are ridiculous and I think the hamburger, more than any other food, epitomizes our ridiculousness. So it is with great surprise that I say wholeheartedly that the best hamburger I have ever eaten anywhere in the world happens to be in the small town of niece in Southern France. 

You can only get this hamburger from this one hamburger stand as it cannot possibly exist anywhere else in the world. The reason for that is because the ingredients that go into the hamburger come from the region and they are locally sourced from a herd of cattle that just doesn't exist anywhere else. The butcher that makes the blend of meat also doesn't exist anywhere else but Nice, and the cheese that is carefully crafted by a fromagerie locally in town also doesn't exist anywhere else. Furthermore the man that creates the Burger who bakes the buns fresh daily down the street certainly doesn't exist anywhere else. 

Bubu Burger is an anomaly's anomaly. it is a perfect balance of delicious meats crafted with care and precision that render crispy and juicy at the same time, with a flavor that is complex but welcoming, and leaves you haunted by its memory upon completion. 

The reason why I even bother to mention this or make such a big deal out of it it's because it is proof that food truly doesn't know any boundaries. While cuisine can be contained within regions to some degree it's the fact that it spills out and goes on trips to other places that makes it interesting. Not even talking about fusion here, I'm just talking about doing something one way in a different place using local products, local flavors and local techniques that changes a well established recipe into something completely different. 

I think a lot of travelers would look down upon the fact that I would bother to eat a burger coming from the States. They would say you should eat local fare and try whatever they're known for and I do agree that is part of it but there's something very interesting when you start to eat food that you're familiar with in your own country.

For instance ... I make a point to eat Chinese food In places where I should not eat Chinese food: Italy Russia and oddly enough Finland which has an amazing place in Kulosaari and that's the point of the boo boo Burger. To me the real gift of travel is to be surprised by the things that we already think we know and the perspective you gain from from realizing your own ignorance is not something that can not be told to you or learned about by reading a blog. So have a burrito in Belfast or perhaps a Roti in Rotterdam.