Hamburger Gourmet
David Japy, Elodie Rambaud and Victor Garnier
Murdoch Books
Review: Lauren O’Connor-May
This book contains 58 recipes, not all of them for hamburgers, developed by the chefs at a restaurant called Blend, which seems to be in America though I really can’t say for sure. What I can say for sure is that these chefs are obsessed with hamburgers.
The book starts out with a brief history of the food and the tools needed to make one. It then breaks down the components of a hamburger and gives recipes for variations of buns, sauces, greens and relish, with tips on how to best prepare and pair the burger patty ingredients and the chefs do not assume that the reader will only use beef, which I liked. Even chips get a mention and I liked that there was a recipe for sweet potato chips too.
This section makes up about a quarter of the book before the recipes begin. The burger variations and combinations in the recipe section are endless. From the standard classic burger, with a few twists, to bacon burgers, fish burgers and vegan burgers, the options are endless.
Our family have an mincer and were eager to try a meatier recipe but some of the ingredients were out of season and we battled to settle on a recipe. In the end we opted for a vegetarian patty made with pulses.
The meal was a hit and is definitely something I can see us cooking again.
Of the 58 recipes, numbers 53 to 58 are the dessert options which are all twists on simple, traditional bakes, like cheesecakes and muffins.
If you like traditional meals with experimental twists, this is the book for you.
