Ernest Hemingway’s hamburger recipe has been bouncing between food blogs for close to a year ever since its discovery among his papers housed at the JFK presidential library. Upon reading the posts they fall in one of two categories. First, the all-too-common 200 word thought turd beginning with vague but effusive praise of the author and a transcription of the recipe that is quite legible in its original form.
Second, the earnest scholar who transfers their love of Hemingway’s prose to his food while attempting to recreate the burger producing an unfortunate looking product (Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan’s post at The Paris Review is the most successful of this bunch, producing an entertaining post and a big hunk of gray meat served on an unadorned white bread hamburger roll). I decided to try my hand making Hemingway’s Hamburger to accurately reflect the “crispy brown” exterior and the “pink and juicy” middle described on his recipe card.
Gathering ingredients like India Relish, Beau Monde Seasoning and Mei Yen Powder is no small feat. Most stores that carry Spice Island brand spices will have Beau Monde, but the Mei Yen Powder was discontinued a few years ago, so I used Ms. Tan’s recommendation of a mixture of 9 parts sugar to 9 parts salt to 2 parts MSG, then using 2/3 tsp. of the mixture with 1/8 tsp. of soy sauce. The India Relish turned up at a Valley Farm Market, after unsuccessfully searching at Wegman’s, Giant, Weis and a number of local specialty stores. Everything else is easily had with a trip to the grocer and searching the dark recesses of the pantry.
I combined our ingredients with a pound of fresh ground chuck and I formed four patties. The patties were quite moist, so I heated my cast iron pan until smoking hot to ensure a good sear and plopped them in.
Hemingway as “cheddar” scrawled in the margin of the recipe card, so I added some nice aged sharp cheddar and threw on a lid for about 30 seconds. The cheddar turned to fondue filling the cracks on the burger’s surface and running off, frying in the beef fat in the pan.
Being a good Pennsylvanian I chose to serve the burgers on Martin’s potato rolls which I toasted in the hope that they might better stand up to massive meat patties. Considering all the add-ins in the beef mixture I opted to keep my condiments simple at sliced red onion and a dab of brown mustard.
The burger is tremendously juicy because of all the added liquid combining with the meat’s juices. Though enjoyable, the liquid quickly soaked the bun and had ended up steaming the inside of the enormous patties. Searing the beef to caramelize the exterior with this much liquid likely means forgoing a pink center and my burgers ended up being on the more done side of medium-well. If you would like to get a perfect medium I recommend cutting the wine from 1/3 of a cup to a couple tablespoons. The flavor should remain, without inundating the meat with excess moisture.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, I would consider Hemingway’s recipe more akin to fried meatloaf than a hamburger. All the seasonings at times outshine the beef, but Hemingway’s recipe reminds us that hamburgers can go beyond my standby of ground meat with salt and pepper.
Leo At Large 