Most burgers come with ketchup, onion, mustard, lettuce, and tomatoes. Some burgers also come with a little slice of the body of Christ. The Ghost Burger from Kuma’s Corner in Chicago features an unconsecrated communion wafer.
According to the Chicago Tribune , the Ghost Burger features slowly braised goat shoulder, some aged white cheddar cheese, a little Ghost chile aioli, and, of course, a communion wafer. The burger is also topped with a red wine reduction to symbolize the blood of Christ.
Kuma’s writes on Facebook that the burger was a tribute to the heavy metal band Ghost B.C.
The restaurant writes: “In the spirit of our undying reverence for the lord and all things holy, we give you the Ghost which we think is a fitting tribute to the supreme blasphemous activities carried out by the band itself. 10oz patty / Ghost chile aioli / Slow braised Goat shoulder / Aged white cheddar cheese / Red Wine Reduction (the blood of christ) / with Communion Wafer garnish (the body of christ). Come pay your respects!”
Luke Tobias, the Director of Operations at Kuma’s Corner, admitted that the burger has gotten some people upset. But Tobias said that it really isn’t a big deal since the communion wafers were never blessed.
Tobias said: “People have been kind of upset… The thing with this is, the communion wafer is unconsecrated, so until that happens, it’s really just a cracker.”
Consecrated or not, a lot of people are upset about the new burger.
Jeff Young, producer of the Catholic Foodie blog , writes: “It’s not the Eucharist, but it’s still symbolic… For us as Catholics, the Eucharist is more than a symbol, it’s a sacrament. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that symbols aren’t important. … It is a mockery of something that is holy.”
The controversy surrounding the new burger is obvious, but what about the taste?
Fred Wu, a Kuma’s Corner customer, said: “It was interesting. I thought (the wafer) was more for effect than anything else. It was pretty good, actually; it had a nice goat flavor and a nice spice. … I’m pretty difficult to offend.”
