Background
Winner of the 2019 National Burger Awards, Libertine Burger knows a thing or two about creating American-style burgers as they should be – fresh, juicy, and dripping with flavour. Using ‘the chef’s butcher’ Aubrey Allen (a Royal Warrant holder and 2020 National Catering Butcher of the Year) for its signature patties, a blend of 28-day dry-aged organic Aberdeenshire beef flank, chuck and brisket, this burger expert has until now only bestowed its glorious creations to two lucky locations – its Libertine restaurants in Leamington Spa and Rugby. However, November saw it go nationwide with the launch of its DIY #Libertineathome burger home kits, featuring one of its hero burgers in kit form each month, for us to try at home.

The meal kit
Kicking things off for November is the signature ‘No. 4’. This kit contains four 150g beef patties, eight slices of American cheese, four sesame seeded brioche buns from Paul Rhodes Bakery, 12 crispy smoky bacon rashers (also from Aubrey Allen butchery), a Libertine seasoning pot, bottles of ketchup and mustard, and sliced Libertine house pickles.

How many does it feed?
4

Packaging
The kit arrives in a big cardboard box filled with straw, and all the bits are buried inside, like a delicious treasure hunt. There are also Libertine graffiti-print greaseproof burger sheets and a sticker pack for the ultimate restaurant-esque finishing touch.

Do I need anything else?
The recipe calls for washed and sliced Iceberg lettuce, which is not included in the kit, so you will need to source and prepare this yourself if you want to include it. To cook, you will need a large frying pan, spatula, grill for the burger buns and a tea towel.

Prep
The bacon comes pre-cooked, so only the beef patties require any pan time, which at a brief four minutes on each side, means you will be wolfing down this glorious burger satisfyingly fast. The pickles also come pre-sliced, so it is only the lettuce that will need a quick chop. This really is prefect for a no frills and fuss comforting treat meal.

The food
These burgers are the dream combination of simple but excellent quality ingredients combined to create maximum flavour. Juice drips out of the burger and into the fluffy, brioche buns perfectly, while the smoky bacon flavour works wonderfully with the melted American cheese. Comforting and delicious – an award-winning ideal weekend indulgence that most Londoners won’t have had the chance to enjoy before.

The price
£25 for the kit, plus delivery

The verdict
Incredibly easy to cook to perfection, even if your kitchen skills are basic – perfect for a relaxed lunch or dinner treat any day of the week. The instructions are very clear, and there is minimum equipment required. You’ll feel pretty pleased with yourself serving up this crowd-pleasing dish that tastes like all the effort went in in the kitchen, when in fact the great quality ingredients are doing all the heavy lifting!

libertineburger.com