"White Castle has the taste some people can't live without."

What is a White Castle hamburger, you ask? Perhaps the greatest known culinary delight the world has ever known! Okay, I'm exaggerating, but they are pretty darn good, IMHO. They're small, about 3" square, cooked on a steaming bed of onions .. wow, just describing them makes my mouth water. "You either love them or hate them" - a cliche, I know, but it really does seem to apply. It's not often I meet someone who has tried one and who is indifferent to them. I, of course, am in the 'love them' category, but I've met my share of people who couldn't stand them.

If you've never heard of White Castle, you probably are not from the east coast. It's a chain of fast food hamburgers along the east coast and in parts of the midwest. The burgers there are small, when I was a kid they used to be just 25 cents each, you could go buy a stack of ten burgers for just $2.50! What a steal! Of course, the price has gone up since then, but they're still worth every cent. I grew up in New Jersey, there was a White Castle right in my home town of Verona. It was indeed a sad day when they tore it down, but not to be thwarted we would drive to the nearest one we knew of in Edison, about a half hour away. There were rumors of ones nearer by, in Clifton and in South Orange, but we stayed with the sure thing.

On the east coast, we affectionately referred to the burgers as "ratburgers", or just plain "rats" - I'll leave it up to you to guess where the name is derived from. Towards the midwest, I understand that they are referred to as "slyders", because "they slide right through you". But out here on the west coast, where I moved several years ago, I have found to my dismay that there are no White Castles at all! What are we, in the Dark Ages? how was I to survive?

I quickly discovered that they did at least sell the frozen variety at the local Safeway. But I also discovered that the frozen burgers, while still pretty good, just did not compare to the real McCoy. For one thing, they're a bit dry - REAL white castles are at least a bit soggy. So over the years, I've learned to make-do with my annual visit back to New Jersey every Christmas. My friends and I always make an event out of it, a planned night of feasting that compares quite favorably with Christmas dinner. I usually get between 12 and 16 cheeseburgers, plus some for the next day's lunch. I have to make it last for the whole year, remember?

I've heard different stories about the lengths that people will go to to get White Castles - driving to another state, or having them flown in by helicopter ... - if I doubted before I truly do believe now. Truly the taste that people can't live without.

Disclaimer: for anyone who stumbles upon this page and is wondering why the heck I am writing this little discourse on white castle, well, I was forced to do it for homework, okay? Don't ask what the class was about ...