How to make great burgers at home
Patty & Bun is one of London’s most popular burger joints. Throughout lockdown, it's loyal, hungry punters have been craving their Patty & Fix burger fix, and luckily the team were quick to come up with a solution…
Not long after the lockdown began, Patty & Bun launched its ingenious DIY Burger Kit, so that food lovers everywhere could recreate the Patty & Bun experience at home.
There are two boxes to choose from; meat and plant-based, and each kit contains all the ingredients that the much-loved burger establishment uses to make its mouth-watering creations, from top-notch beef patties courtesy of butcher HG Walter, fresh brioche buns, tasty cheese slices, and pots of Patty & Bun’s very own smoky mayo, homemade pickled onions and smoky onions too.
Meaty kit
The best veggie burgers
With just one humble box, you can recreate four of Patty & Bun’s signature burgers at home; two ‘Ari Gold’s and two ‘Smokey Robinson’s, with full instructions provided. All you need to bring to the burger party is some fresh lettuce, a tomato and a healthy appetite.
I opted for the veggie kit, to see if a plant-based burger could hit the spot the same way as it’s meaty counterpart, and the answer is a resounding YES.
The plant-based patties oozed and fried beautifully, and the THIS Isn't Bacon crisped up like traditional pork rasher and had a deliciously smoky smell and a delightfully meaty texture. After simply frying those two up, it was time to move on to the construction phase, which is all helpfully outlined in the recipe card provided.
Within 15 minutes I was faced with an unctuous, flavour-packed, mouth-watering creation that I like to think Patty & Bun would have been proud of, and it tasted sublime.
It takes your traditional American-style ‘dirty’ burger to the next level thanks to the quality ingredients, but all the naughty but oh-so-nice satisfaction is still there.
It dribbled down my chin and wrists in the best possible way; the addition of the melted, grilled cheese, the sweet, pillowy soft bun and the sticky caramelised onions enhanced the whole deliciously filthy affair, but the highlight was the (in my case, vegan) smoky mayo, which was like a traditional zingy, creamy burger sauce, but better.
P&B kit 1
In a nutshell, the whole experience was a joy, from waiting for the box (yes, even waiting for the box!), receiving the box (oh joy! I would have hugged the courier if I could), to hastily unpacking and inspecting each delicious item. Not to mention the sheer excitement and anticipation of what we dubbed (imaginatively) as – BURGER NIGHT.
It was incredibly easy and fun to make (if Patty & Bun need chefs in the future, they know where to look...), and a WONDER to eat. During the monotony of lockdown, it was just what the doctor ordered, and our spirits were raised by what felt like a deliciously special occasion.
And speaking of special occasions, it’s my birthday at the end of this month and, lockdown or no lockdown, there’s going to to be another Patty kit with my name on it.
Kits are £25 each plus £6 delivery within the M25 only (nationwide delivery launching soon): pattyandbun.co.uk.