SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE BUN
This summer try making your burgers out of more than just beef
BURGERS ARE a summertime classic — but why settle for standard old beef patties? The average American eats more than 150 hamburgers — roughly 27 pounds of ground beef — every year, but as much as we love to consume cow, there are so many other great animals you could be burgering right now.
Sheep, deer, ostrich and even some animals from down under (the water and Australia) are perfect for grinding into patties, tossing onto the barbecue, slathering with sauce and putting on a bun.
Ahi tuna, for example, can make a great Asian-style hamburger — though the Greenpeace crowd shuns the fish because it’s not always humanely harvested and often is high in mercury.
So burgermeisters mostly stick to dry land. Adam Trinkle of the Burger Guru in Brooklyn, for example, says duck is the most delectable meat to ever grace his grill.
“It tastes like what turkey wishes it tastes like,” says Trinkle, who embodies the great American catchphrase, “When the going gets tough, the tough make burgers.”
Other top chefs we talked to start salivating over venison, rabbit and even ostrich. Bison, of course, is increasingly common, but it’s still delicious.
“I like it better than beef because it’s gamier, bloodier and somehow chewier,” says Jean-Paul Bourgeois, the chef at Danny Meyer’s Porchlight, the new bar on the far West Side.
But this is America, where traditionalists hold sway. Butcher to the stars Pat LaFrieda told The News that despite the veritable cornucopia of edible animals on the planet, there’s nothing like the fat mix of ground beef.
LaFrieda knows a thing or two about meat, but we know 10 members of the Animal Kingdom that would taste great in a burger right now. Meet — or shall we say meat? — them all:
KANGAROO
Talk about a Hoppy Meal. This Australian delicacy (below) might be the most surprising animal on this list — but its taste is rather familiar.
“It tastes like beef,” says chef Katherine Fuchs of Thirsty Koala in Astoria. “It’s tender, it’s sweet, it’s got a great mineral quality to it, and it’s very good for you.”
Kangaroo has the fewest calories per serving of any meat, thanks to its low fat count.
Pro Tip: Order ground kangaroo online for about $18 per pound. Grind it with oranges or plums to give added flavor. Add salt and rosemary to give it a boost — er, jump — in flavor. Grill until medium rare, but don’t be fooled because kangaroo retains a bright red color even when cooked through.
Ostrich
Ostriches better start sticking their heads in the sand — because we’re coming for them!
The flightless bird is extremely lean, but, unlike turkey and chicken, its meat is the same rare red that burger connoisseurs love. Most of that meat comes from the bird’s big, beefy legs.
Ostrich has less than half the calories of beef and less fat than white meat chicken, but with about the same amount of protein.
“It has a unique taste,” Trinkle says. “It’s richer than turkey, and it tastes nothing like chicken.”
Pro tip:
Order ground ostrich online for around $10 a pound. Mix the meat with an egg to add protein. Be attentive while grilling, because it cooks very quickly.
rabbit
The famous documentary, “Roger and Me,” raised the central question about rabbits: Pets or food?
We go with food. Rabbits offer lean (but not too lean) meat — and it can be burgered in interesting ways. “It’s very much like dark meat poultry,” LaFrieda says. The muscular meat from the rabbit’s legs is quite tender, but it still needs some work to make it worthy of a Tom Cat brioche.
“It needs a little more flavor,” says Jamie Schweid, a ground beef purveyor. “It needs to be heavily seasoned.”
Additives like rosemary, salt and thyme give this bunny the hop it needs.
Pro tip:
Have the butcher take the rabbit off the bones then grind the meat in a food processor. Mix with bread crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl, then form patties and cook them in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Duck
Duck burgers are mostly uncharted waters, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t go over swimmingly.
Duck is much richer than its feathered counterparts turkey and chicken, and Donald and Daffy boast a fat profile similar to beef.
“The duck is more inherently flavorful than beef,” Trinkle says. “You can do a lot of unique things with duck that you can’t necessarily do with beef.” (Just take a bite of the duck meatloaf at Buttermilk Channel on Court St. in Brooklyn and you’ll know that.)
Pro tip:
Have the butcher take the duck off the bone, then grind the meat in a food processor with raisins and little bits of pineapple. Form the patty and cook it in a covered grill. Duck cooks with the strong, even consistency that burger-lovers crave.
bisOn
Sure, Americans love cow, but bison is the continent’s original red meat — though it was supplanted by bovines after Columbus introduced them to the New World.
And that was history’s greatest mistake, Bourgeois says.
“I just love the chew of it,” says Bourgeois, who gets a 70% bison-30% beef mix from LaFrieda before grilling it into thin patties for his towering double-stacked bison burger.
“You need just a little beef to give it some fat and to hold it all together,” adds the Louisiana native, who lobbied extensively for crayfish to be included as a burger-worthy animal.
Maybe next year.
Pro tip:
Form into thinner patties and grill quickly unless you are using 100% bison, which can be made into thicker burgers and cooked much like beef. Also, the aggressive taste of bison calls for a mild, gooey cheese.
sheeP
More than four million New Zealanders can’t be wrong! Americans don’t consume sheep nearly as voraciously as our Kiwi brothers, but we could learn something from them: Lamb makes a perfect burger.
“Lamb is awesome,” says Rico Cirignano, head butcher at Harlem Shambles. “It’s got a good fat content for a burger. It’s mild, almost sweet.”
The decadent red meat can be prepared just like hamburgers — and it tastes delicious when seared with rosemary, salt and ground pepper.
It can also be served Greek-style with feta and Kalamata olives.
“It’s a very flexible protein,” Schweid says.
Pro tip:
Ask your butcher to remove lamb from the bone, and then grind the meat. Mix it in a bowl with diced onion, lemon zest and oregano. Complement your cooked patty with spicy Tirokafteri cheese.
WilD bOar
Skip the burger and head right for the bacon.
Wild boar meat is richer, tastier and, quite frankly (pun intended) better than that of the common pig — which means it’s head, shoulders and horns above a cow.
“The sweetness is taken up to an 11,” Trinkle says. “Everything is amped up (compared to pork).”
It’s very easy to cook, and it mixes well with most seasonings. Just make sure to not add too much salt — it’s already quite salty as is.
Pro tip:
Ask your butcher to mince a piece of wild boar shoulder or belly. Form your patties, and then cook them in a 250-degree oven. Make sure the meat is cooked throughout before eating.
Deer
Deer are considered vermin in many parts of the country, so you shouldn’t feel too bad about throwing Bambi on the barbie.
Deer meat — venison — is lean, so it does require some help, Schweid says.
Searing the meat with cinnamon or salt adds a tremendous flavor boost to give you a unique and tasty burger.
But balance is important — make sure you don’t overseason it.
“You want to taste the venison,” LaFrieda says. “I make sure to leave enough of the fat on it.”
Pro tip:
Take minced venison, mix it with cinnamon, and then cook it in a cast-iron skillet. Be careful when cooking — venison cooks much faster than most meats, and it’s extremely dry when overcooked.