'burger monday with Blanch & Shock'

I am sat in Andrew's Cafe awaiting Daniel Young's acclaimed 'Burger Monday' event and I'm looking at the menu before me.

This particular BM is being hosted by Blanch and Shock  who came to the shop a few weeks back on the hunt for a consultation. With me. I was rather taken aback as it is usually me seeking the advice. However they indulged me slightly and we talked in depth about beef.

They were wanting to know what exactly to put in their burger. They wanted to push the boundaries of cooking and cross the line of normality. So we tried to come up with something pretty odd...

Which is now glaring at me on the menu. Panic sets in, the sweat starts to prickle and the bottle of Italian red going down a little too quickly..so if this goes wrong it may well be on my head! I decided then and there that if it were to go wrong I'd put my hands up boldly and ward off the madness telling them 'we knew it was madness but it was important that we tried! However I also put great faith in the chefs that were cooking it, so I left this chaotic scene to the recesses of my mind...

Josh comes over and shows me the raw burger which consists of ox cheek, short rib and the end piece of 40 day aged rump (i.e the blackest bit) and it looks...like a burger! The pockets of aged meat do look good, hopefully to give off a gamy flavour. But what will it taste like when cooked...

While sat here, chatting away, I look at the caff. And it really is a caff - ad I love it. This is perfect. On my table are young, fun and lovely software developers Ben & Dan - BM veterans. These guys knows their burgers..

So the plate arrives and it looks sensational. The hay bun is superb and retains all the juices from the met perfectly. Not too much cheese and a hint of pickle. Lovely touch indeed with the chicken skin. The consistency is smooth and very agreeable and the whole thing is perfectly accompanied by the beef fat fries.

Success.

I chatted to the chefs afterwards about their feelings on the evening. We both shared in the relief tht the burgers went down well. As to those hamburger connoisseurs who said you can not make a burger without the use of 'chuck' in the ingredients. Well myself and Blanch & Shock say 'f*ck chuck - there are better cuts to be had.

gb