Raw deal for restaurant as medium-rare taken off menu

The Governor's burger is usually served medium-rare but can be cooked to each customer's requests. Photo / Facebook / The Duke of Marlborough

The executive chef of New Zealand's oldest licensed premises has been left fuming after having its famous medium-rare Governor's Burger pulled from its menu.

The Duke of Marlborough restaurant in the Bay of Islands received a visit from a Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) inspector ordering the famous burger be removed from the menu because its burger was served medium-rare.

According to new food preparation guidelines, meat and liver need to be cooked at high temperatures and for longer periods of time to avoid contamination.

The Duke's executive chef Dan Fraser took to Facebook to hit out at MPI laws labelling the move as "Bureaucracy gone mad".

"Hi there friends, family and hospo peeps!!! It is with great sadness and regret that we will no longer be able to sell 'The Duke's governors burger'.

"The MPI laws are bureaucracy gone mad. We are only allowed to cook our burger to a dry, rubbery well-done and I'm not proud to serve this. I wonder how our minister of primary industries "Nathan Guy" eats his burger? Maccas maybe?.

"Also off the cards is steak tartar, carpaccio, and perfect duck/chicken liver parfait. Good-bye dear friend, its been a great 6 years.... I'll miss you xx"

Hi there friends, family and hospo peeps!!! It is with great sadness and regret that we will no longer be able to sell "...

Posted by Daniel Fraser on Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Fraser said foreigners often come in coming in asking for the burger rare, while others want it well done.

The chef voiced further frustration, telling Fairfax "the ministry is telling us how our customers need to eat their food" and believes the new rules were created by a bureaucrat, not a chef.

The Duke of Marlborough is New Zealand's oldest licensed premises. Photo / Facebook / The Duke of Marlborough

However MPI food and beverage manager Sally Johnston told Fairfax the new rules didn't ban medium-rare meat but that chefs would have to change the way they cook meat.

"It is possible to cook a medium-rare burger safely, it just means that they need to think about the processes that they are using to do that," she said.

"It might not be necessarily possible to do that on a BBQ or grill."

She insists the new rules are necessary after a number of deaths from undercooked meat.

Fraser was told he would have to apply to prove The Governor burger is safe, but it would cost "thousands of dollars".