Today, the Broadmoor’s Restaurant Collective Facebook page posted a wonky little item: It was on this date in 1976 that Penrose Room chef Edmond Johnsen won second place in Kraft Foods’ “Creative Cheesebuger” contest. (Never mind the September date on the accompanying Gazette-Telegraph article, I guess). His “Swisscamole Burger” won him a crystal trophy from Tiffany & Co. and a thousand bucks.
The story reports 54 prizes were awarded for the contest, the first of its kind held by Kraft. Johnsen’s burger, which he said would probably sell for between $3.50 and $4, is a halved patty stuffed with guacamole and Swiss cheese “with a scoop of fresh mushroom salad on top of lettuce to the side.”
The chef began professionally cooking in France in 1924, and was apparently quite savvy in the ways Europe promoted the kitchen life. The paper writes that Johnsen “said that such contests are beneficial and should be backed by the Department of Agriculture to promote interests of young men in becoming professional chefs.”
Speaking to the newspaper, the chef added: “In France, all kinds of medals are awarded to local cooks who promote dishes for the agricultural department.”
The original Gazette-Telegraph story ran with the recipe, but it turned out that everything after the ingredients was accidentally cut off. In a follow-up piece, the paper wrote, “The recipe was carried in Sunday’s [GT] but unfortunately the method for preparing Johnsen’s burger somehow went down the disposal. Here is the recipe in its entirety.”
[Images: Broadmoor Restaurant Collective Facebook]
