Heston Blumenthal's 'Perfect burger' attempted by Larissa Röhmig

So here is a first one... A homemade burger review.


My friend Larissa had a go at her own burger. The inspiration was the Big Burger episode of "the fat duck" chef Heston Blumenthal's show "In Search of Perfection".
In the show Blumenthal makes the whole burger from scratch. Hold on, okay he made the bun from scratch, all other ingredients were just chosen very specifically.


This burger was made with conventional buns from the supermarket, which were totally acceptable (although I still wonder what they would have tasted like). The patties were however made according to the recipe and consisted of 625g beef chuck, 25g salt, 1.2kg short-rib meat, minimum 30-day dry-aged, as well as 625g beef brisket. Minced and mixed by the helpful butcher at the Selfridges food-court in Oxford street. 


The meat was first wrapped in cling film and chilled, then cut into two finger thick patties and pan fried in very little oil. Afterwards they were covered with cheese and grilled in oven until the cheese was molten. In the meantime the patties were caramelized in the remaining fat, until golden brown. Add lettuce, a slice of tomato and a blanched onion (very very good, I never had this, but it makes a huge difference), et voilà,.. a lovely burger. 
As a side dish we had potato wedges that were prepared in the style of Jamie Oliver (zest of lemon added to a herb mix). Very tasty.
As you might know, I like my smokey chary grilled flavor, which this burger didn't have. But neither did Heston Blumenthal's. So I really wonder why he prefers to make it in a pan. But I have to admit it was delicious. Mainly because of the fresh ingredients, the quality of the meat and the good company. :-)


Rating: 5 out of 6

Hamburger review: The Grand Union Bar London

The Grand Union Bar in Camden

The Grand Union Bar is a chain of eight bars/pubs throughout London. They have a menu of 18 different gourmet burgers, as well as a couple of vegetarian and bread-less alternatives for ... the strange people.

My order consisted of a cheese and bacon burger, with chunky chips (which are the best in London according to Time Out magazine) and a portion of onion rings.

When the burger arrived it looked very good, although it's architecture was a bit uninviting due to its height. The bun was a sesame bun that had a sort of glazing on top. I should ask a baker what this glazing is, as most buns do not have it (probably egg-yolk and water just saw a recipe on the A bountiful kitchen blog). The size of the bun was small on first sight but turned out to be ideally proportioned to the size of the patty. The ingredients of the burger were very fresh. The lettuce and the tomato looked as crisp, as if they had just been picked from a field down the street.

The meat patty on the other hand had a strange smell to it, which I found a bit chemical. This can however be due to the cheese or my malfunctioning nose due to party favors I had the night before. As you can see in the picture, the meat has a very dark almost black look to it. I am sure that it hadn't been the worst meat quality I have ever had, but this chemical flavor somehow turned me off. On the upside, the burger had been grilled and not fried. Although probably on a gas or electric grill, as it didn't have any charcoal flavor.

The side dishes were both very good. Understandably the chips are award-winning, as the are made from a special potato (Fresh Maris Piper potatoes cooked in salted water, fried once only). But even more surprising were the onion rings. They were made from a fresh onion that was fried in a batter, that would normally be found on fried fish.

Rating 5 out of 6

http://www.gugroup.co.uk/bar-grill/ourbars/

Hamburger review: VingtQuatre London

VQ VingtQuatre

VQ is a restaurant on London's Fulham Road. As the name suggests, the restaurant is open for 24 hours. They have a very diversified menu, and are not a specialized burger restaurant.

The burger looks very good, and comes with two patties, two slices of cheese, a strip of bacon, and fresh lettuce, tomato and pickles. The bun is made from the right flour and has sesame on top, it is however a bit too big, which makes the burger too dry and disqualify it as finger food.

The beef patties are not made of the best meat quality, and they are not grilled but fried (in my opinion, although I have to admit that I am not 100% sure, but I couldn't taste any charcoal flavor).

The fries and coleslaw sides were both very good.

Rating 3 out of 6

http://www.vingtquatre.co.uk/vqlocation.htm