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Etorki used to be good, but now sucks

THE QUEST FOR THE ULTIMATE CHEESEBURGER

First of all, beware, this post is not about music, it's about food !

I know it might be slightly weird to find this here on our blog but I had to share my ongoing quest to cook the cheeseburger of my dreams.

As you know, burgers can come in millions of different shapes and styles and each of us burger lovers has his own favourite.

I have been searching for my dream burger for a while now, skimming London burger joints in the hope I would find exactly what I was looking for. And I must say I have tried some really amazing ones along the way (the 7'' triple cheese burger of Kilburn's XBurger {below} being one of the best I was lucky to taste).

But very often, a little something was wrong about the burgers I tried : dry buns, cheap meat, thick tomatoe slices, not to mention the terrible trend of garnishing burgers with chutney or coleslaw...

Anyway, I was frustrated already, but my obsession to prepare the ultimate burger only really started a few days ago, when the universe started sending me obvious messages.

It first started with another disappointing burger me and my girlfriend ate in Clapton. A cold and over sweet coleslaw was making the burger almost impossible to eat and for the first time I thought "This is it, now I just need to try making one myself".

The following Sunday, I made my first attempt, cooking a massive burger for each of my flatmates for our traditional Sunday dinner. The result was positive, they all loved it, but it was too heavy and the minced beef I had bought at our local butcher was frankly not the best.

I tried to convince myself it was alright and I had done my best but the universe sent me another message the following night, when watching Season 4 Episode 02 of How I Met Your Mother called 'The best burger in New York' where Marshall roams the entire city to find the place where he ate the best burger of his life, 8 years back.

This was clearly not just a coincidence. I had to pursue my dream of finding my own favourite burger of all times, and if no one in London was gonna be able to cook it for me, I will then have to do it myself !

But first, I realized I needed to clarify what exactly was my dream burger ? That's when, randomly again, I stumbled upon this video on Food Republic, of an american chef called Sean Brock (my new personal hero) explaining his take on cheeseburgers :

These are his words :

“If I had to pick one thing that makes me the happiest when I eat it, it would certainly be the cheeseburger […] squishy bun, american cheese, special sauce, double patty, there’s something about the way that american cheese melts into almost a sauce, and if you have a double patty it kind of binds them together, and that, with that squishy bun is what I crave in cheeseburgers. That’s the only cheeseburger I ever wanna eat. I don’t want a cheeseburger with truffle cheese, foie gras and oven dried tomatoes […] But that’s what’s cool about a cheeseburger, it’s a personal thing, you’re allowed to eat whatever cheeseburger you want.”

That wonderful speech, plus the passionate look in his eyes and the wonderful images of his own cheese burger made me realise that THIS was exactly what I had been looking for : a simple but splendidly gooey american cheeseburger with no other artifice than great meat, great cheese and a squishy bun.

I was now ready to start a journey to gather the perfect ingredients for it.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before I realised that finding american cheese in London was not just difficult, but most probably impossible !

After finding this really helpful article "In Search of the Best American Cheese", I started searching for suppliers here in London.

That's when the nightmare started.

Countless blogs recounted the experience of american folks living in London that had been looking for their beloved American Cheese without success.

At this stage, It should be pointed out that calling 'Cheese' this chemically processed milk product is most certainly considered Heresy by any proper Cheese Maker.

But as the "In Search of the Best American Cheese" article points out : "Nothing else has the same melty, gooey texture and milky, salty flavor that accentuates, but doesn't compete with a burger."

After hours of internet research, I finally found this American Food Store, based in Notting Hill, that was most susceptible to sell this so called American Cheese.

I couldn't actually find it in their product list but I thought I'd give it a try the following day.

The great news was that the store was located only a few meters away from one of London's most famous butchers : C. Lidgate, where I was bound to buy the minced beef for my burgers.

"Danny Lidgate is the 5th generation of his family to run this 150 year old business. He and his father David personally select organic and grass-fed beef, lamb and pork from selected free range and organic farms and estates."

I could feel my dream was about to come true.

The next morning I woke up early and went all the way to Notting Hill to buy the ingredients I was missing.

At exactly 9.30am, I was proudly standing in front of the American Food Store, when the shop was just opening.

But I was just about to be bitterly disappointed. I searched the whole store, looking for Sliced American Cheese but couldn't find any, so I ended up asking the lady at the desk :

"-Sorry Mam, do you sell any American Cheese ?"

- Oh Darling, you're not the first one, they all come in here hoping they'll find some, but the truth is, you won't find any in London. Customs are a real pain in the butt, they've never authorised it, we just can't get it shipped..."

NOOOOO !!! My dreams were shattered, I will never have the luck to taste the divinely silky texture of processed American Cheese in a Home made Double Patty Cheeseburger.

I thanked the lady and left the store feeling miserable, my heart heavy as rock. But well... Such is life.

The butcher next door was definitely selling one of the best minced beef in town (just take a look at the awards they recently won), and I was lucky to find a cheese maker and an italian delicatessen down the road, where I bought the cheese for the burgers.

In the italian place, I bought a few slices of Fontina, a 'Soft Mild Alpines cows cheese ideal for cooking'. At the cheese maker, I bought two thicker slices of French Etorki, an unpasteurised Sheep's milk cheese.

After all, I had to face it, this was bound to be succulent !

But it's while I was gathering the final ingredients for my burger that I stumbled upon what was going to be the key to it's absolute success :

"Primula Original Cheese Spread" !

This was going to fulfill my craziest dreams of a gooey cheese burger.

Enough talking, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves now.

Here the ingredients list for one burger :

- Buns (Warburtons Barm Cakes did the job nicely)

- 2 burgers (make them quite thin, just under 1cm thick)

- 2 thin slices of Fontina Cheese

- 1 thick slice of Etorki Cheese

- Cheese Spread

- 1 Sweet Onion (you actually just need one slice)

- 1 Gherkin

- Salt & Pepper

- Colmans Mustard

- Ketchup (optional)

Here is what it looks like when you add the cheese spread on top of the onion slice.

And here we are, my own take on the Double Patty Cheeseburger. So delicious, I couldn't believe it. The minced beef was absolutely divine and I'm really happy with my choice of cheeses, they melted nicely and the cheese spread made the whole thing just as gooey as I wanted it to be.

But remember, we all have distincts tastes when it comes to burgers and your own favourite might be very different from mine, so go look for it..

Now !