Burger Bar by Hubert Keller
This will be a short review for an awesome book for your library. I have been searching high and low through mountains of garbage cookbooks for that one book that “gets it” when it comes to burgers. Imagine my surprise to find that a Frenchman has the best book.
For those of you who do not know, Hubert Keller is one of the underated super chefs of the United States. He hails from Alsace, which is probably why most don’t run to him screaming, “Autograph! Autograph!” Alsacians have a reputation with us cooks, not a very flattering one.
I have never met the man personally, but what I have seen, he is down to business, humble, and a great cook. He recently starred on Top Chef, where he went all ghetto and cooked Mac and Cheese in a dorm room, complete with rinsing his pasta with the shower!
Now, onto the book. One would think that there would be all sorts of different essays on burgers, how the grill should be, use only this and not that, blah blah. Well, the book’s instructions on creating the burgers are conspicuously small. 2 pages on how the meat should be ground and chopped. Is that enough? Hey, do you need more? What the guy is saying is to use the best ingredients. That’s it!
So, what youa re left with is how he builds his burgers from his restaurant. Now, for those of you out there that are screaming, what??? Think of it this way. This book is not a cookbook, but more a jumping point for you to create your own book. You seriously do not need any recipes, except for the condiments, except to get an idea on how to proceed. That is where this book shines.
Ah, the food porn is excellent as well. Money shots of juicy, delicious burgers!
All in all, if you are a chef, you probably could get all the information you needed from this book by browsing through it in a real bookstore. It is good to have for inspiration. As for the home cook, I am not so sure you all can get what you want from this book, without being disappointed. I suggest getting the book, but beware that this book is more on the level with a professional chef than a home cook.
