Ingredient 51 Lands On Top Of The Ram Burger At RHS

Chef Chris Avtges, the food and nutritional services director for the Vernon public school system, called it, "a little R&D for the new menu."

And there he was for the good part of Thursday morning with some culinary students at Rockville High School, working on the creation of "The Ram Burger," soon to be one of the new highlights of Friday night football games at RHS.

The Ram Burger will be one of the showcase offerings at the new mobile concession stand acquired by the school system - basically a commercial kitchen on wheels.

The chef and the students experimented with three burgers in the first block culinary class and a second class was to come in after that. Taste-testing was taking place after each class.

A choice will soon be made for the Sept. 13 football opener at RHS.

One burger had the most unique presentation, and with apologies to George Carlin, it was blue.

It featured both both a blue and gold sauce to be exact - fitting since they are the base colors for RHS athletic teams.

"So what's in them?" Avtges was asked.

"Can't tell you," was the response.

"So, what, it's a big secret? Should we just call it Ingredient 51?"

"That ingredient does not officially exist."

"Give it up or I will file of Freedom of Information request."

"I'll deny it. This is classified information."

On and on the argument went. Whatever Ingredient 51 is, the consensus in the kitchen was that the burger with the blue sauce and the gold sauce tested really nice. The idea was thrown out by student Anthony Tyson, who happens to be an offensive lineman on the RHS football team, and everyone ran with it and added a touch here and a touch there. It seems to be an early front-runner to win out.

Whichever creation is named the Ram Burger, Tyson mused that he would be smelling it during warm-up drills.

Avtges said the fans will be in for a taste treat.

But he won't give up Ingredient 51. Alas, it was created by the local school system, under the supervision of the chef for the local school system. Should be public information, right? 

Stay tuned. The battle over the Ram Burger has just begun.