Created by Quentin Tarantino (and impossible to get anywhere): The Big Kahuna Burger
A legendary scene from the film Pulp Fiction: criminals Vincent Vega and Jules are standing at the door of a student residence, there to set things straight for their employer, Marcus Wallace. Who do they find there? Brad and his friends, who are having breakfast with Big Kahuna Burger hamburgers. And while Jules delivers his unforgettable speech, you keep wondering as a foodie: what is a Big Kahuna Burger?
Unfortunately, you can’t order that Kahuna Burger anywhere. The fast-food restaurant Big Kahuna Burger doesn’t exist; Tarantino made it up. If you’ve seen his films a hundred times, or you’re simply an observant type, you’ll notice that the restaurant also appears in the films From Dusk Till Dawn and Reservoir Dogs. But in Pulp Fiction, the hamburger from that fictional chain plays the biggest role. ‘This IS a tasty burger,’ says Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), before shooting the entire student room to pieces.
Control freak
Of course, control freak Tarantino went a long way in developing this detail. A friend of his designed the packaging for Big Kahuna Burger’s soft drinks and burgers, and a fake restaurant was even built for the vampire film From Dusk Till Dawn. The restaurant also appears in other films: in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (which is currently on Netflix!), you can see a Big Kahuna Burger advertisement on a passing bus, and in Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Blonde sips from a Big Kahuna Burger soft-drink cup.
With pineapple
What would that tasty burger taste like? In Pulp Fiction, you actually see a standard burger, with an obscene amount of ketchup – though that pales in comparison to all the blood that will soon be splattered around – and a slice of cheddar. Superfans have discovered that the hamburger is topped with Swiss cheese, the sauce is teriyaki sauce and, naturally, there’s a slice of canned pineapple on it. And because Tarantino came up with it, it’s not gross but cool.
Read also:
- Tarantino’s spaghetti and meatballs
- The film King Georges shows you why you don’t want to open a restaurant
- 6x the very best food films
