By Carrie Ferguson
The Nashville Tennessean

While burgers are not what we seek out when we travel, it's exciting to stumble onto unusual new identities for an icon such as the all-American burger. Now that we're starting a new grilling season, and our communal thoughts turn to flaming the perfect burger, live daringly and consider spicing up your burgers with tastes of the exotic.

Australian Burger 'With the Lot'

Make yourself a big burger patty combined with egg, onion and Worcestershire sauce and cook it slowly in a hot grill.

Find yourself a big bun and in this order build your burger: lettuce, cheese, hamburger, bacon, a fried egg, pineapple slice, beet root slice, ketchup. (The Aussies call their ketchup "tomato sauce," and it usually also contains apples as an ingredient.)

Argentina: Hamburgesa

If you've been to Argentina, you know the elegant South Americans are more into tea time than they are chomping on burgers. But this meat-loving country, which rivals Australia for use of the "barbie" - or "parilla" in Spanish - has put its own signature on the hamburgesa, as they call it.

This recipe is from www.fooddownunder.com and confirmed as traditional by architect Fabian Bedne, a native of Buenos Aires.

1/3 pound grilled hamburger patty

1 slice of cooked ham

1 hard-fried egg

1 slice of mozzarella cheese

1 bakery-style sandwich bun

Butter

Lightly toast the bun and spread with butter. Place the hamburger patty on the bottom half of the bun, add the ham, the egg and finally the cheese. Broil until the cheese has melted. Top with remaining bun. Makes 1 burger.

Cuba: Frita Burgers

In Miami, Cuban-Americans continue the island tradition of making fritas, little burgers topped with potato sticks.

1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 pound ground beef round

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ketchup

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Combine bread crumbs and milk in small mixing bowl, set aside.

Gently mix beef, half the onion, the egg, garlic, ketchup, paprika, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano in a medium-size bowl.

Fold in the bread crumb mixture and mix thoroughly. Form into eight patties, each a little less than a half-inch thick.

Lightly oil grill or a skillet over medium-high heat and cook burgers to desired degree of doneness, two to four minutes per side for medium.

Serve on dinner rolls, two per person. Top it off with canned potato sticks and the remaining chopped onion. Makes 4 servings.

From The Great Big Burger Book (Harvard Common Press; $15.95) by Jane Murphy and Liz Yeh Singh

Iranian Burgers

In Tehran, it's hard to believe they serve hamburgers. But they do, and they're often referred to as Mediterranean kabobs.

Prepare the ground beef with chopped onion, salt, egg and a pinch of saffron.

After grilling, top it off with sliced tomato, fresh basil leaves, green onion and serve it on crunchy French bread.