7 June was a hot day. In Sliema, things were a 100° hotter as the Spiciest Burger eating challenge of the year was taking place. And guess what, Just Burger is in the news once again!
We’ve recently witnessed a number of spicy Burgers popping on menus all over the island. KFC have 3 Zingers with varied levels of spiciness, Hard Rock Cafe have the Atomic with a concoction of spicy condiments and Hugo have the 911 Burger with salami. But all pale in comparison to what Just Burger have craftily created for this challenge! Apart from the beef patty, which is a supersized 200gr version of the renown Just Burger patty, the burger is an unstable spice bomb. The beef is topped with slices of Mexican Edam Cheese, infused with red hot peppers. Two large habanero poppers stuffed with chilli cream cheese go on top. The bun was spread on both sides with a load of Tabasco, habanero mayo sauce and a jam made from jalapenos, onions, peppers, chilli, vinegar and Harissa (a hot chilli pepper paste). You think that’s more than enough spice in one meal? Wrong! Even the fries got the hot treatment as they were sprinkled with garlic powder, cajun spices and Tabasco. The fumes emanating from the freshly fried fries caused burning and watering to our eyes!
How do you prepare yourself for such an scorching eating challenge? Some told us that it’s best to consume a banana beforehand, whilst others insisted that it’s best to tackle the challenge on an empty stomach and eat the spice as fast as possible to give as little time to your taste buds to succumb to the heat.
The rules were simple: you have 15 minutes to eat all the burger and fries, and an additional 10 minutes of waiting time before consuming any beverage. This was more than enough to scare the bejesus out of most burger eaters! Yet 6 competitors, coming from different corners of the world, had the balls to rise up to the challenge! Alexander from Sweden ate the whole burger and fries in 3 minutes, without breaking a sweat. He’s been training hard, and until the day before, he was eating ghost pepper poppers! Maltese muscle man Ralph was the runner-up, taking 5 minutes to consume the burger. Jeremy from Canada came third with a respectable 6 minutes. Four of the competitors are the whole burger, whilst 2 ate a modest 90% of it before the time was up.
This was a one-of-a-kind specialty burger that was built exclusively for this challenge. It was made to be ultra spicy so that the common man in the street would run away upon face to face confrontation! Yet it was possible to consume it without dying on the spot! If you missed the challenge you missed your chance to prove your worth as a burger eater! Until the next burger challenge…
