Chef Che Barrington puts the heat on the cheesburger-bao hybrid that customer can't get enough of. Photo/Sylvia Whinray
Chef Che Barrington puts the heat on the cheesburger-bao hybrid that customer can't get enough of. Photo/Sylvia Whinray
It's the fusion flavour du jour but has the reinvention of a fast-food favourite gone too far?
An Auckland restaurant's $14 cheeseburger bao is the latest on a long list of makeovers that includes cheeseburger flavoured pies, potato chips and pizzas.
Che Barrington, head chef at The Golden Nest atWoodpecker Hill, says almost every table at the Parnell restaurant has ordered the minced brisket-stuffed, American cheese-topped, steamed bun burger since it appeared on a post-lockdown menu.
Meanwhile, Timaru-based Heartland Potato Chips has just released a thick cut cheeseburger crisp (ingredients include powdered cheese and tomato) and, in central Auckland, a cheeseburger pizza is back by request on a "secret" menu for sit-down diners only. Irvines has this week confirmed increased production of "The Beast", the cheeseburger pie it launched in July, because it keeps selling out - especially in the South Island.
Are these fromage Franken-fusions any gouda? You feta believe it, say the experts.
Chef Che Barrington with the bao cheeseburger that started as a staff-only meal at The Golden Nest at Woodpecker Hill. Photo/Sylvie Whinray
Barrington thinks it's the novelty factor that attracts punters to the cheeseburger bao, first developed by the restaurant's dumpling chefs as a staff-only option. The stuffed and steamed bao is toasted, before being topped with cheese that's melted with a blow torch to "make it messy".
"It's such a simple thing, but everybody likes it," says Barrington.
Cheese is an obvious "hero protein" for chefs, says Calum Hodgson, the self-styled "curd nerd" currently working for Massimo's Italian Cheese Co.
"From fine dining to ghetto greasy – fromage fusion is only just scratching the cheese."
The Beast - Irvines' limited edition cheeseburger pie.
Kate Goodwin, Irvines marketing manager, says the cheeseburger pie's popularity means it may end up as a permanent menu item for the commercial baker.
"As far as we know, we are the first branded cheeseburger pie to market here in New Zealand and we've searched online and haven't been able to find a commercially made one anywhere else in the world."
She says the product "felt like the ultimate combination of favourites".
The cheeseburger goes crispy. Photo/Sylvie Whinray
But cheesy come, cheesy go - Auckland's Proper Pizza restaurant has just cut a signature cheeseburger pizza from its takeout menu. Stuart Deeks, owner and founder, said it was an unexpected best-seller but didn't travel well. Home delivery customers complained fresh lettuce and tomato toppings slid off in transit.
"We're actually looking to put it back as like a 'secret' menu item. So people who are dining in can still request it."
What do regular burger joints think of the new kids on the (cheese) block? Cheeseburgers are "culinary perfection" says Mimi Gilmour-Buckley, founder of Burger Burger.
"The seemingly simple cheeseburger is actually an example of brilliantly balanced beauty – juicy meat, creamy cheese and deliciously acidic pickles that cut right through."
