Burger theory herds beef patties off the menu, to be replaced with kangaroo burgers
IT’S out with moo and in with roo as the burger bar that helped kickstart the craft burger movement in Adelaide herds beef patties off its menu and introduces a range of kangaroo burgers.
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It’s out with moo and in with roo at Burger Theory.
The burger bar that helped kickstart the craft burger movement in Adelaide is herding beef patties off its menu and introducing a range of kangaroo burgers.
The Adelaide gourmet burger bar, which has four Adelaide outlets, is best known for its Union Street diner in the East End, which is closing for a refit until January 11.
When it reopens it will be all new and all roo.
The move away from beef patties and also chicken (dropped for ethical reasons) will mean that the burger bar’s much-loved #1 Beef Burger and Original Fried Chicken Burger will both be gone from January 11.
But in a win for the environment, kangaroo, sourced from the mandated cull, is set to bound onto the menu instead.
“We’re using Something Wild as our roo supplier. It’s indigenous owned,” says co-owner Dan Mendleson.
“We’re hoping to make a bit of a dent in the food system,” adds Burger Theory co-owner Rob Dean.
“If everyone switches to roo it’s going to be a hell of a lot better for everybody. Compared to all beef it’s chalk and cheese. Roos exist, there are too many of them, whereas we have to keep farming cows.”
Kangaroos are culled nationally to control numbers, protect ecosystems and prevent overgrazing of grasslands, which in turn ensures the survival of threatened species.
Mr Dean says the new roo patty has an environmental impact that is “the lowest of any patty on the planet.” He add, however, that the new roo burger will taste the same as the beef burger they have been selling.
“If we gave you the two you wouldn’t be able to say that one’s beef and one’s kangaroo,” Mr Dean says.
This will be partly due to the fact that beef fat needs to be used to form roo meat into a patty.
“But we can’t make a pure roo burger because it’s so lean. Which means we’re still getting fat from beef. You’ve got to have something to bind the patty. The fat is also what gives it the beef flavour,” Mr Dean says to the new patty, which he and Dan have dubbed the Smashface.
“But there just won’t be any more chicken, because we can’t find a chicken that is justifiable to use. You just don’t want to be a chicken.”
In another switch to locally grown ingredients, Burger Theory’s American pickles are getting the chop because Rob has found a native substitute.
“We’re getting karkalla, which is also known as pigface. Karakalla is our new pickle. It’s picked just down the south east. It looks totally different to a pickle but tastes just the same.”
“We’re definitely rolling the dice on this,” says Mr Mendelson. “But we think the roo burger is really good.”
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