Annabel Langbein

Burgers are quick and easy for summer eating and the sky’s the limit when it comes to choosing ingredients

Are you a Tuk Tuk burger fan, or is it a Sweet Baby Cheesus burger that takes your fancy? How about a Crabalicious burger, an It’s Nacho Usual Burger, or a Poutine’ on the Ritz? I kind of like the sound of a This Little Piggy Has Seoul burger myself.

At Welly on a Plate last year there were 232 different burger offerings from as many different restaurants in the city, each revealing countless ways to take a burger to greatness.

Martinborough’s Cafe Medici was the winner of the WOAP Burger Wellington competition with the Prawn Underbelly — king prawn toast with caramelised pork belly, Asian pickles and house-made sweet chilli dressing in a sesame and buttermilk bun with toffee crackling and Sichuan pepper fries.

Leroy’s Bar took second place with their Lucy’s Got Dragon Breath burger, a bacon-and-cheddar-stuffed beef patty with chicken, fried onion rings, dill pickles, American cheese, cheddar mayonnaise and barbecue sauce in a milk bun, with homemade barbecue kettle fries and onion dip. And third place went to Sweet Release Cafe for their Jacked Up vegan burger, made with barbecued jackfruit, seitan rib with coleslaw, potato chips and housemade butter and aioli on a brioche bun.

Perhaps more than any other dish, the burger has come to define summer (anytime!) eating, and for so many good reasons.

There are no rules in its free-spirited and creative construction beyond the fact that it needs to taste good.

The stacked filling allows you to construct your burger just the way you like it: with soft green salad or crunchy slaw; tomato sauce, aioli or guacamole; or with or without that controversial beetroot — you choose. The assemble-your-own option always gets a big tick and is especially useful if you’re feeding kids or a crowd.

You can change the flavours of your star ingredient to whatever ethnic profile you fancy, so even though the framework is the same and you can use many of the same everyday ingredients, your burger can taste different every time.

But probably the greatest appeal of the burger is that it’s informal, friendly, no-fuss fare that you can eat in your hands. No table setting is needed and no plates either, unless you want them. This portable, goanywhere meal is perfect summer food — easy to make, fun and delicious to eat and an inexpensive way to feed a crowd. And if you need a low-carb option for a coeliac or gluten-free friend or family member, take a cue from Burger Burger and create a bunless-burger using cos lettuce or iceberg as a wrap.