BURGER EX-TASY
The CNE opens Friday — so get ready for deep-fried spaghetti patties and other, um, delicacies. We take a sneak peek,
What will this year’s deep-fried butter balls be?
Will it be a spaghetti-and-meatball burger? A double-decker burger in a Jamaican patty “bun”? A Japaneseinspired burger topped with crunchy chow mein noodles?
The CNE starts Friday and everybody’s itching to see what wacky food becomes a runaway success, like deep-fried butter balls were in 2010.
We got a sneak peek at two vendors who’re preparing for a burger battle.
Corrado’s S&M Burger has a racy name, but it’s actually a pretty wholesome spin on spaghetti and meatballs. One patty is made from chopped spaghetti bound with mozzarella and deep-fried, and the other patty is made from meatball mix.
“This new burger we came up with tastes decent, so it’s not just the hype about the name,” says Corrado “Charlie” Pecorella modestly.
The CNE’s concession co-ordinator has been urging him for several years to do something clever with spaghetti. The Italian restaurateur slathers his buns (a hefty whole wheat/multigrain number) with garlic spread and tops his burgers with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan.
“At that point we ask ‘How kinky do you want your burger?’ ” reveals Pecorella. “The ranges are regular, which is mild and has nothing extra, kinky, with baked jalapeno peppers, and XXX, which is on fire and has habaneros or scotch bonnets.”
He hopes to put sirens on his booth (Corrado’s Greek & Italian Cuisine on the midway near the Mega Drop) and sound them whenever someone orders the XXX version of the S&M Burger.
“What do you think?” he asks. “Come on; you’ve got to be creative.”
Food has changed over the years at the CNE, concedes the new general manager, Virginia Ludy, who has worked for the Ex for more than three decades.
“Over the last few years, all these wonky and wacky foods have almost become like food entertainment,” Ludy says. “Food has become so important to all of us.”
In the food building, a new spot called Bub’s Bad@ss Burgers will also be fighting for burger supremacy.
Chef Benjamin Lewis has crafted a Bad Boy Burger that showcases a Japanese-spiced beef patty and a breaded and sauced chicken breast on a deep-fried Jamaican beef patty acting as a bun.
“It’s our CNE offering of excess — the big, giant monster burger,” he says. “The CNE is kinda the place to see what’s wacky and we thought it would be fun to be part of that.”
Besides, Lewis Googled the concept and couldn’t find anything similar. “So we want to be Bub’s Bad@ss Burgers: Home of the original Jamaican patty burger concept.”
He’s also proud of his Sumo Burger, which plays on Japanese flavours but with double patties, lots of condiments and chow mein noodles (which are Chinese), it still counts as excessive.
These three new burger offerings are in the same price range — $12 for the Sumo, $13 for the Bad@ss and $14 for the S&M (all prices include tax).
Those who balk at the Ex’s prices may be interested to know that out- door concessions, such as Corrado’s, pay 25 per cent of gross sales (less HST) to the CNE in lieu of rent, while food building vendors, such as Bub’s, pay rent based on square footage and location to the tune of $2,000 to $65,000 for the 18-day event. The dream, for many of them, is to be the next New York Fries. As legend has it, New York Fries got its start at the CNE.
In fact, the Canadian chain debuted in the Scarborough Town Centre Food Court on Aug. 16, 1984. It arrived at the CNE food building in 1986 (which was technically its 16th location) and stayed until 2008. It now boasts 155 franchise locations worldwide.
“You never know what could come out of being at the CNE,” muses Bub’s owner Manny Tsouvallas. (He also has Miami Ice, Nacho Libre and Hula Girl in the CNE food building, and owns Colossus Greek Taverna in Oakville and Port Credit.)
Pecorella, too, admits his “hope and dream” is to franchise and “open 50 stores across Canada.”
One thing’s for certain: once the CNE is over, he promises to add the S&M Burger to the menu at Corrado’s Greek & Italian Cuisine on John St. jbain@thestar.ca
“Over the last few years, all these wonky and wacky foods have almost become like food entertainment.”
VIRGINIA LUDY
CNE GENERAL MANAGER