Burger King's Top Chef Reveals Oyster Fantasy

John Koch, the fast food chain's executive chef and director of product innovation, today told BurgerBusiness.com that his favorite breakfast is a Hangtown Fry.

"You might not be familiar with it, but it's a dish from the 1800s," Koch explained. "It's scrambled eggs, fresh oysters and crispy bacon, and it is to die for."

Legend holds the Hangtown fry was invented in Placerville, Calif., when a forty-niner who'd found gold demanded the Cary House Hotel's kitchen produce the most expensive dish it could muster in honor of his strike.

Koch and his interviewer agreed the fry probably isn't Burger King breakfast menu material, but at least one renowned oyster fan says he'd roll through the drive-through for Burger King's version of the dish.

"I'd try it," says seafood marketer Jon Rowley, who believes there are enough oysters available to supply Burger King if it wanted to run a promotion in a single market, such as Seattle or Sacramento.

According to Rowley, shellfish rarely surface on fast food menus, although Hooter's offers oysters on the half shell. ("Only the finest oysters available, however, raw oysters can be harmful or fatal to individuals with certain medical disorders," its menu warns.) Long John Silver's has experimented with crab cakes and "lobster bites," and Captain D's - a Tennessee-based chain with outlets across the South - serves deviled crab. But the vast majority of sea creatures which show up on fast food trays are fish. In the last few years, KFC, Jack in the Box and Wendy's have rolled out new fish sandwiches.

"Who knows?," SeafoodSource editor Steven Hedlund mused in a 2008 column. "Ten years from now, maybe even Dunkin' Donuts will menu seafood."

Dunkin' Donuts' coffee might be the perfect pairing for that Hangtown fry.

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