I was aware that Ernest Hemingway was a great writer. But I did not know until now that Papa was also an avid cook. And while his stories were often sparse and gritty, his recipes were often complex and bulging with ingredients…
So it is with his celebrated 10-ingredient hamburger prescription. Folks generally agree they like it. But it’s a big fuss to make. And you might have to go all over town looking for key ingredients.
It sounds as though he just couldn’t resist turning everything he did – including making a burger patty – into a safari!
Dyed in the wool fan
Food & Wine contributor Christopher Michel is obviously a literarian and dyed-in-the-wool Hem-ingway fan, as well as a keen observer of people and their customs.
His Food&Wine bio seems to indicate that he’s spent a lifetime writing for top-tier lifestyle publi-cations. Though the photo that accompanies the capsule bio suggests he can’t be any older than 12.
Two sides?
I think Michael would be among the first to agree it would be hard not to have two starkly contrasting sides if you were Hemingway, maybe more. You at least to be adaptable when one year you’re the toast of Paris and the next, writing war dispatches from the front in the Spanish Civil War.
After his suicide at the age of 62, Hemingway’s executors found thousands of notes, unpublished stories and fragments and – unexpectedly – recipes, many of which were his is own creations.
One that has fascinated fans for decades is his 10-Ingretient Burger.
Isn’t that a little over the top?
Yes, it is. But Hemingway was known as an over-top kind of guy.
The following is what he is said to have loved in his weekend grill party ‘Special’:
- A beaten egg
- Dry red or white wine
- Minced garlic
- Green onions
- Capers
- Dried sage
- India Relish
- Beau Monde Seasoning
- Mei Yen Powder
First, understand that all these ingredients went into the patty. None of the above was intended to go into any sauce or marinade or topping…
Powders, Seasonings, Relishes – Oh, MY!
In his role as a leading big game hunter of his day. Hemingway travelled around the world to take part in hunts, safaris and expeditions. No wonder his knowledge of culinary oddities from other cultres was broad and detailed… But what are the following flavouring compounds, none of which I had ever head of before until now?
India Relish
“Indian relish is a spicy relish used as a condiment or side dish,” Wikipedia tells us. As much as you could easily mistake it for plain old Green Hamburger Relish if you just grabbed for it off the shelf in a hurry, it’s the farthest thing from that simple, pickle-based Western standard: “It consists of a var-iety of vegetables and fruit that can include chopped bell peppers, sweet onion, garlic, tomatoes, sour apples, mustard, cloves, white wine vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, ginger, and sugar.”
If that wasn’t enough…
Beau Monde Seasoning
The Country Cook, Brandi Skibinski, asks: “What makes Beau Monde different from House Seasoning?’
Th easy answer, apparently, is, “Typically, house seasoning is just salt, pepper, and garlic powder. But this blend [features] the addition of celery seed, [or celery salt] onion powder and a touch of sugar.”
“This particular seasoning blend’s name is trademarked by the Spice Islands company,” Skibinski notes. No problem making our own, yhough – unless you were planning to sell it! It’s a fantastic all purpose seasoning that’s so simple and whose ingredients are all so complementary to one another that it can be used in dozens of different roles, in dozens of different dishes!
Mei Yen Powder
Definitely an Asian flavour statement in a jar. And another ‘few-ingredients, many applications’ compound. Just 4 key components required: Salt, Sugar, MSG and Chicken Bouillon powder.
The MSG is a dead give-away of it’s Asian Origin. Ditto, its name.
My take
Sandra Spanier, an English professor at Pennsylvania State University and general editor of the Hem-ingway Letters Project, who has seen the papers. Salvaged the Master’s detailed instructions for making his ‘Wild West Burger’.
Spanier takes credit for salvaging Hem’s 4th wife’s comments from the original papers as she (Span-ier) found them:
“There is no reason why a fried hamburger has to turn out gray, greasy, paper-thin and tasteless. You can add all sorts of goodies and flavors to the ground beef – minced mushrooms, cocktail sauce, minced garlic and onion, ground almonds, a big dollop of Piccalilli, or whatever your eye lights on. Papa prefers this combination.”
Aside from the obvious suggestion that you should give Pappy’s fave Burger a try, the foregoing should also give you a jumping-off place to try his fave ‘legacy’ spice blends in a whole bunch of classic and creative ways..
~ Maggie J.