A Gastronomic Supervillian: The Luther

The (in)famous Luther burger could only have been created in the South, birthplace of Krispy Kreme and the Turducken. Recently covered on CNN, written about by the Associated Press and Reuters news services and featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Luther (and its cousin the Hamdog) is drawing a lot of attention to a small neighborhood bar in Decatur, Georgia.

Mulligan's inhabits one end of a former grocery store. The new owners, likely a gang of rogue-Irish golfers, converted the sterile atmosphere of the dairy section into a dark and casual neighborhood bar with a stage, pool tables and a Galaga machine. One of the first things you notice is that the bartenders all seem to be midgets, but this is just an illusion because the bar and pool playing area is on a raised platform, while the staff remain on the ground two feet below the floor. There is a fierce independent streak at Mulligan's, seen from the angry posts about the city's indoor smoking ban to hosting the upcoming Atone Pain Tribe's night of fire, ritual piercing, flesh hooks, and pain.

But enough about the lovely surroundings, let's talk about the Luther. What we're talking about is actually pretty simple. It's not a "pile-on-everything" burger, and it's not an over-sized novelty burger. The only difference between a bacon cheese burger and the Luther is the bun. A halved Krispy Kreme donut magically turns a burger classic into a world famous sign post of the gluttony of America.

So, how is the burger? Surprisingly tasty. It's pure pub food, and on top of that it's a burger made in a kitchen where the culinary highlight is dipping various objects in boiling fat. This is an incredibly creative and subtle modification to a burger, and the fact that it actually tastes good implies some sort of extensive experimentation where various southern foods were applied to a burger until finally -- after eating bites of shrimp, Coke-glazed turkey strips, cotton candy, pork chops, and who knows what else on a burger -- they stumbled on the Krispy Kreme as bun. Did they try it with tomato? Was there bacon on it the first time? And most importantly, have they tried deep frying the whole thing?

There is a theory, which hasn't been sufficiently documented, that the Luther gets its name from R&B singer Luther Vandross, who allegedly was the first to use a donut when he ran out of regular hamburger buns. Despite the potential celebrity involvement, credit for the popularization of the Luther burger remains with Mulligan's continued service of the glazed and grilled concoction.

The aspect of the Luther burger that is most remarkable is of course the bun. What other type of burger gains its notoriety from bun? Why is this attention on the bun so important? Because the bun is a too often ignored aspect of a quality burger. The Luther draws attention to its bun, and in doing so, draws attention to the bun on every burger you eat afterward.