For the first time, I’m reviewing a cookbook! This is something I never thought of doing. Although lately, I’ve been lucky with my purchases and found cookbooks that I’ll treasure for life and can always turn to when I want to eat something quick and delicious. From the team at Blend, a Parisien hamburger restaurant – and the place I’ll be eating if I ever find myself visiting France – comes Hamburger Gourmet!

My first impressions

So far, everything I’ve cooked has been delicious and a problem if I have to eat a burger at any fast-food joint. The burgers are filling, full of flavour, messy, and an experience to repeat. They take more time and dedication than I’m used to giving to a burger, but it pays off. Even the simplest of burgers tastes 100 times better than any burger I’ve ever had.

Forget mayo, ketchup, mustard and all those already made sauces. With this book, you take your sauce game to another level. And it doesn’t stop there. It also has jams which are the hand of life reaching out to hold the patty so you can have a delicious bite.

As you can tell, I’m very passionate about these burgers. It changed my life and taught me that a burger can be much more than just beef between two pieces of bread. It’s an experience. The way the sauces and jams can bring so much flavour to a simple beef patty made me enjoy burgers again.

I’ve only tried 3 recipes: the Base burger, a deliciously simple pickled sauce; the Brie, with honey-mustard, caramelized onions, and the melted cheese on top – I’m already salivating – and the Champ, with a cream and mushrooms sauce all over it. All these recipes are made with beef patties seasoned just with salt. And since my first bite, I knew this was a book to keep coming back to. I already have two more batches of four patties ready in the freezer for the next recipes.

Inside Hamburger Gourmet

The book starts with an introductory part going briefly over the history of the burger. It explains how you can make your own buns, the type of patties from different meats and fishes, the cheeses to pair with, some of the sauces and jams, and even talks about the more common greens to use. It’s a great way to learn some tips to venture outside of the recipes in the book and create your own.

Once all the components are introduced, it’s time for the recipes. There are four chapters dedicated to burgers and the last one for desserts. And no, the desserts aren’t burger related.

The first chapter is to learn the basics. Simple recipes, learn flavour pairings, experiments with different jams and sauces and try other meats and fish. The second chapter becomes a bit bold with incorporating flavours in the patties. The third chapter is about veggies, with all the recipes being vegetarian. Although only a few of them are vegan. And the fourth chapter – and shorter – is the chef recipes for bolder and skilled home cookers – I’ll eventually get there!

One thing that I enjoy about the recipes is how they are written. The steps are organized sequentially as normal, although they are separated by component. This way, I can easily look at the recipe and read what I need to do for the patties or the jam without having to reread the steps over and over again to find where I am in the recipe.

My only “complain” are some of the photos don’t seem to match 100% the recipe. The burger described is the burger you see, but the placement of the sauce is wrong or, in the photo, it has greens, and there aren’t any in the recipe. Are little things like that. Nothing major or that cause any trouble. It’s something that I noticed. Otherwise, I love this book!

From now on, I’m going to judge every burger I eat, comparing it with these recipes. If I can do a juicier and flavourful burger at home, then the restaurant is not worth my money. My life will never be the same. I feel I’ve unlocked a new part of my brain dedicated to savouring burgers. The hard task will be to avoid eating them every week!