Bob’s Burgers is an Emmy winning animated show about a family and their misadventures in the restaurant business. Bob, Linda and their three children: Tina, Gene, and Louise do their best to keep their diner afloat amidst an array of ridiculous scenarios that sometimes include animal rights activists, the health department, and a cranky critic named The Moody Foodie. This show is a  great example of silly humor mixed with clever writing. A lot of people are put off by the idea of a grown up cartoon show however, there are so many reasons to watch this one. The humor is great, the characters are funny due to their inability to see the obviousness of any situation, and who can resist food puns?

In the episode “Crawl Space” Bob tries to avoid Linda’s visiting mother by pretending to be stuck inside the walls of the restaurant; this trick leads to him actually getting stuck inside the walls. He attempts to go about his everyday life while slowly going crazy from being confined in the walls. He instructs everyone regarding their duties in the restaurant, including changing the specials board. He instructs Louise to write the special as the “Never Been Feta Burger” but Louise takes it upon herself to name the burger of the day the “Foot Feta-ish Burger”. At face value, this is hilarious but it also gives more insight into the show and Louise in particular.

Attention to this detail brings watchers’ attention to the running gag in the show. The specials board changes with every episode,and they are always ridiculously funny food puns. This gag also alludes to the fact that this is an adult cartoon show. Kids generally don’t understand puns and usually lack the general knowledge to “get” them and appreciate them.

Louise being the one to change the name is significant in a couple of ways. To start we discover that Louise is a trickster; she thrives on drama and conflict. By disobeying her father’s instructions on the name of the burger she is able to create discord with her dad; exacerbating an already tense situation for Bob. Louise gets a thrill from messing with people and in this case she is able to take full advantage of the situation because her dad is unable to do anything about it.

Renaming the burger also allows Louise to create conflict with the restaurant customers.The name “Foot Feta-ish Burger” is slightly disgusting because she is juxtaposing the image of feet with that of food. This creates  a certain level of shock value in just reading it; it also inspires a feeling of unease with whomever might want to order it. This is a great example of how Louise loves making people uncomfortable.

The “Foot-Feta-ish Burger” in real life is anything but disgusting. Feta cheese is slightly salty and mildly sour (also like Louise’s personality), but is delicious on a burger. Feta is commonly used in Greek dishes and because of this, I decided to subtly flavor the burger with some common Greek flavors.

I used 100% beef because if you have ever seen the pilot episode, you know that is ALL that Bob uses in his burgers. I mixed up the burgers with some oregano, lemon juice, onion powder, and garlic powder.  I also cooked them on the grill to make nice grill marks and make them taste authentic. Just to round out the flavor I decided to top it with some red onion and tomato, but you can use whatever you like.

Overall, this burger came out tasty and rich. The seasonings inside the burger and the toppings give it a complex, layered flavor. I feel like it is perfectly representative of the shows humor and how there is clever significance behind the jokes.

Never Been Feta Burger/Foot Feta-ish Burger

1 pound of Ground Beef

1tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Onion powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Burger Bun

Feta Cheese

Red Onion

Tomato

1. Mix first 6 ingedients and  form patties
2. Pregeat an outdoor grill for hig heat and lightly oil grate
3. place patties on the prepared grill, lower lid and cook 6-8 inutes preside oruntil desired doneness.
4. Once cooked place hamburger on bun, top with Feta Cheese, red onion, and tomato.