Radishes, Recipes & Rudi

My Favourite New Burger

Going back to New York meant I could continue my journey in finding the perfect burger, it also meant checking in with my previous favourite burger to see if it was still number one.

I did fail as I could only fit in four burgers on my trip, two were revisits. The spotted pig and db bistro moderne.

At db bistro moderne I revisited the original DB burger and at the spotted pig I had the Chargrilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestring Fries. Two things happened, I had a new favourite and simplicity rules.

I did have other burgers on my trip, but they did not stand up to these two favourites.

We arrived too late for lunch and too early for dinner, we had no booking, very hungry and had covered way to many miles by foot when we arrived at the spotted pig. We negotiated a bar counter seat and ordered a Flying Dog Pale Ale. With a paper next to me opened on sports page, I was reminded how the Mets sank to a new low the previous day, Blank! I still had a good day at the Mets stadium.

We ordered Chargrilled Burger with Roquefort and another beer. It was as simple as that soft bun, burger and Roquefort, it was that simple. No elaborate garnishes, salads, lettuces or pickles.

Toasted soft bun, chargrilled burger topped with Roquefort with lots of shoe string fries. It was simply delicious, great rich meaty flavour that was right blend of meat and fat. The Roquefort worked with the pure beef patty almost to well. Here is three ingredients each made and cooked perfectly, it was that simple. We have some work to do.

Db burger is still part of my favourites list and I will have it again on my next trip.

Months went by where we had no problems, brisket and chuck came from two suppliers. The product was consistent, we became complacent and confident. Then it struck again, that pink burger as we made the burgers fresh how was this possible, and off course the only people that picked it up was the guests eating well done burgers. We even blamed seasonality and the grass.
I spoke to a good friend and through our conversation he mentioned that if a butcher used nitrates in their shop certain cross contamination could occur. That had to be it, the problem is that both sources are too ethical, too honest and we had scrap that idea.
We went back to the drawing board removing everything, making burgers with no salt, only parsley and only mustard. Results after two days of allowing the burger to stand was a little annoying as the salt seemed like the culprit. The question I had is, how much nitrates are present in salt, does it make a difference if the salt is sea salt or not?
Some vegetables like celery, beetroot, cabbage, some root vegetables and parsley all contain a percentage of nitrate. Sea salt contains a percentage of nitrate, be it very small amounts. When nitrates are exposed to certain types of bacteria the nitrate is converted into nitrite. This reaction is similar in characteristic to traditional cured meat products.
All of this meant that we have to relook the recipe for the guests wanting a well done “’bloody pink”burger.
The problem has been solved for now.

Poached sea trout
Ocean greens, spekboom and sea asparagus salsa verde, lime air, cucumber flowers, cucumber oil
Inspired by flavors of the ocean due to the leaves that we recently got as samples from wild peacock, we have been asking and searching for a long time.
“the oyster leaf and ice leaf simply played mind games when tasting them, they literally taste like the ocean, it was evident that the sea trout would best suite these beautiful greens, the cucumber flowers are like micro cucumbers with bold cucumber essence a light burst of acid with this bitter sweet under tone makes for a perfect marriage for the trout”