Let's rehabilitate the burger

A burger, then, is very simple, very good if it's well done, a bit like the emblematic "dish" of the cuisine of our American neighbours, who are often persuaded to have invented it, which is totally far-fetched, it is in fact of German origin, literally hamburger is "Hambourgeois" for the French-speaking people or inhabitants of Hamburg, where it originates, brought to the United States by the immigrants from this city.

We can find it everywhere now, not only at macdo fortunately, and especially it arrives in our kitchen, adored by many, especially children/teens/youth in general.

You can find a lot of them in take-away, in delivery, and a lot of chains, more or less sophisticated, offer practically only that.

You can buy it of course, have it delivered of course, but most of all, as you can see, you can make it yourself and with a little effort, have something healthy and delicious, miles away from the over-fat and over-sweetened stuff of fast food chains.

If you want to get started, which is quite simple I reassure you right away, here are a few points that deserve your attention.

The bread

Without doubt the most important, it is very easy to buy in supermarkets vacuum-packed burger buns, not expensive, but which are horrors without name, very fat, very sweet and which remain under plastic 2 months without problem, filled with additives that they are.

If you buy in a supermarket, read very carefully the label, and choose the healthiest, proscribe the endless lists of additives of fats, sugar, it will probably be a little more expensive, but much better taste and health.

But there is a much better option: Go to your baker and buy from him, order if necessary, buns. If he's a good baker he'll make them himself, in his bakery, quality buns, fresh and infinitely better than anything you'll find in the supermarket. As demand increases, (good) bakers are adapting and offering a variety of different breads, in doughs, sizes, and toppings (seeds on top).

There is even a third way, you can consider making your own hamburger buns, it's not that complicated, with a mixer or a bread machine. You can also decorate them to your taste.

Bread related tips:
- Cut your bread in half with a saw knife shortly before topping (so it doesn't have time to go stale)
- Toast the two pieces of bread before topping, in the toaster or in the oven, it will be much better in taste and texture

The meat

Here too, it is necessary to go for quality, and therefore to buy quality meat from your butcher, minced in front of you.

Tips related to meat :
- Instead of making a simple ground steak, mix the meat with salt, pepper, chopped onion, herbs, etc. and then form patties by hand to grill.
- It is now quite easy to find "hamburger presses" that allow you to quickly mould the meat into a well rounded patty of the right size.
- You can go off the beaten track and replace the beef by another meat, more original, chicken for example.

The vegetables and the rest

You can put in your burger a bit of everything you want, only limited by your imagination, let yourself go!
The classic tomatoes (in season only), onions and lettuce are delicious of course, but don't hesitate to think outside the box: spinach leaves, fresh herbs, cooked vegetables, avocados, etc. etc.
You can also add a lot of other things to slip in between the ingredients already mentioned: cheese slices, hard-boiled egg slices, pickles, grilled bacon, etc.

The sauce

In principle, a little mustard is enough, but you can enrich your burger with another sauce: mayonnaise, remoulade, béchamel, spicy...
Be careful not to saturate the sandwich, it is easy to make it a little too rich and give it a taste of sauce rather than burger.


So here is a small overview of the burger, to make it short, it is a simple sandwich with grilled meat, but it deserves that we pay a little attention to its realization and its composition.

In summary: The burger is not the archetype of junk food, it is a sandwich that if it is well made, preferably at home, can be delicious and healthy, thanks to the use of quality ingredients.


PS: Those who live around Brest in France, will be happy to go to the bakery"Pen ar bread", in Guipavas, the remarkable establishment of Sébastien and Audrey that I highly recommend (best bakery in Brittany 2019), where you will find a whole range of burger breads just delicious. Those are the buns you see in the introduction photo. And in addition the owner is a very nice guy, a real well of science in bakery, do not hesitate to ask him about it.

PPS: You've probably already seen those famous black and white archive images of JF Kennedy's speech in Berlin in 1963, and his even more famous "Ich bin ein Berliner"? Imagine for a moment that he gave his speech in Hamburg...