PRAGUE, Sept 3 — If a meat patty falls between two pieces of lettuce, is the result still a burger? Such is the rhetorical question McDonald’s restaurants in Czech Republic posed its customers this summer by offering a burger with lettuce leaves in lieu of a bun.

Purists may cry foul and marketing pundits invoke a monumental virality-chasing trolling operation, but McDonald’s Czech outposts have gone ahead and released a variation of the "Clubhouse Beef” sandwich, featuring lettuce leaves where there should be a spongy burger bun.

Code-named "Clubhouse Naked Beef”, the item — which is on the fast-food giant’s Premium menu — is composed of a beef patty topped with Big Mac sauce and ensconced between the aforementioned greenery. The recipe may be far from catering to vegans, but could whet the appetite of those on a gluten-free diet, or wishing to limit their caloric intake (to the tune of 472 calories versus the classic version’s 699).

This item, which follows in the slippery footsteps of the avocado-slices-as-a-bun burgers of the world, might just be relegated to the Czech market, as many creations of the chain remain local specialties. — AFP-Relaxnews