pulled pork

The Mad Rancher

What’s happening in Marsaskala? Wied il-Għajn has been categorically turning into a Burger-Wonderland since 2017. Luckily, there are no McD or Burger King in sight, so eaters can truly enjoy one of the copious burger offerings from the local ensemble of restaurants. And believe us when we say that this place is brimming with quality burgers, as we’ve been there, and tried them all! A new and notable burger spot on the rise is Mad Hatter. In Alice’s Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare are tea party friends, but our Hatter is mad about burgers! Both characters are painted on a red wall that takes up one side of the restaurant, and they laughingly stare at you, as you enjoy your burger. Just like Alice’ rabbit tunnel, this hole in the wall that initially looks like a bar, deceives the eyes.

Although the place has been around for years, last August it was taken over by Keith Gatt, a young chef who has been working in and out of kitchens for the last 7 years or so. Since then, Keith has been churning out new burger after burger, almost every week, sprucing up his Burger menu to an unbelievable array of diverse burger options. And this is where we came across the burger of this week, aptly named The Rancher. This burger is made from 240gr of local chuck beef and topped with 2 slices of smoked cheese, a meat-hill made from pulled pork and drenched in thick bbq sauce, and crowned with crispy onions all battered in flour. All is encased in a 5-inch wide brioche bun. All these elements tick all the boxes to make this burger qualify as something out of a Texas ranch! You also get lettuce, tomatoes and pickles on the side, but they seem superfluous here. This is obviously a big burger aimed at the most primordial carnivorous eaters! This is the kind of chunky burger that our buddy, Big Bertu the Burgernator would devour on the go, but we could not send him this time, as he’s away testing burgers in Ireland.

There are numerous techniques to create a burger patty that impresses us. Keith is using prime chuck here, which has been ground course for good measure and consistency. A coarse mince is a surefire formula for success, as it gives the best texture. There’s also very little place for finely ground beef in a burger, as this generally produces a somewhat dry, crumbly patty unworthy of any notice. Generally, ground chuck has much less fat compared to other cuts of beef. But, this beef shrinks less during grilling and also provides enough fat content to add a gratifying level of flavour. According to a Fort Valley State University College program, many people cannot even taste the difference between ground chuck and something like sirloin! We can, and the flavour here is meaty and palatable, making a perfect base for a Texas quality burger. Chuck is cut from the shoulder, and sometimes it might turn dry when cooked beyond medium-rare. This was not the case here, as the patty is greatly charred, with a crunchy exterior that has been seared to sizzle-crisp, and tenderly chin-dripping juicy in the centre. This patty is pure beef in its simplest form, as it has nothing more than minced beef and seasoning, instilling that sense of optimism and fulfilment that good beef brings along. The scent of this grilled burger alone gives you the chills!

As much as we loved the chuck beef, the pulled pork deserves a notorious mention of its own. The amount of pork looks even more astounding than the 240gr patty itself, which is something that big eaters always welcome! The secret to pulled pork is using a flavorful rub and cooking it low and slow. This pork has been painstakingly prepared and pulled into moist strands by Keith himself. It’s sweet, savoury and subtly spicy with a tangy kick. And most important of all, it rocks with the silky smooth and delicious BBQ vibes that provide a marvellous browning! It’s ludicrously tender, succulent and moist that it legitimately ticks all our taste bud boxes! And there’s quite a lot of it, as in messy lot! It’s lick your fingers clean, major-league BBQ at it’s finest, so we were more than glad to eat it all without breaking a sweat! The BBQ flavour is strong and takes over the whole burger, so if you like BBQ flavoured burgers, this is the real deal in the whole Marsaskala-land! This is not the family-style BBQ pork shoulder you are used to, this is something you only get to eat when celebrating a lifetime achievement or after winning the gold jackpot!

Everyone agrees that fried onions are a great topper on a classic burger. For some, there’s no better crunchy comfort food on the planet than crispy fried onions! So it’s no coincidence that these made their way in the Rancher burger. These onions are golden crisped, and have a somewhat light texture and are crazy delicious. They are oh-so-oniony, yet when floured they don’t seem like veggies amidst all the meat! We could pluck them out of the sides of the burger one by one, and eat them all day long! They are also a staple in Cowboy burgers from Texas. Life’s problems are finally solved!

No burger should come without fries, and this one is no exception. These are premium crunch fries from Belgium, and some of them might actually even come from Malta! They are seasoned with Himalayan salt, pepper & garlic. It’s a truism that bears repeating: One of the greatest differences between ejja-ha-mmorru kitchen workers and professional cooks is that the pros use a lot more salt in their creations. And thanks God for that, as these fries are sublimely salted. These fries have a very light crust, a starchy inside, are fried well and have a nice potato flavour and texture.

If you find yourself eating silently, eyes closed, overlooking everything around you, you have come upon a burger that can be pronounced as an accomplishment. That’s what it felt like eating the Rancher burger at the Mad Hatter. We’re sure that we will be back sooner than later here, as Keith has managed to come up with a good number of burger inventiveness that you don’t need to wait for summer to visit Marsaskala again.

Pork Trio

Many consider beef as the undisputed king in burger land. And why shouldn’t it be like that? After all, nothing beats a 100% beef burger. Except for the odd pork burger, when done right.

Truth is, we’ve searched far and wide for an incomparable burger made of pork. Throughout the years, we’ve come across enticing offerings from Shoreditch topped with pulled pork, tempting and delicious pork bellies from Fat Louie and even a Maltese ftira from The Pulled Meat Company, yet we still languished for that elusive porky burger of a regal level. Just when we were going to throw the towel and drive to Marsaskala for a fish burger, a beacon of hope glowed at the aptly-named Ras Hanzir, in Paola, in the whereabouts of the Pavilion Gastro Pub. Here we found a Pork Trio burger as part of their current lineup of specials, with not one, not two, but three layers of holy pork! We’re almost dumbfounded!

But why pork? Burger makers have been doctoring up beef patties from the outside for ages, pimping them up with thick bacon, unthinkable and exotic toppings and even injecting the insides with pockets of cheese. So why not turn the whole game upside down, and do something entirely different than beef? That’s just what Chef Daniel Callus thought of doing. Daniel is one of the veteran burger makers in Malta. He’s been working for 13 years in the local catering scene and helped set up many popular burger establishments. His ideas and touch can be spotted in many of the burgers you like eating.

The Pavilion Gastro Pub was renovated last August. It’s located on the historic grounds of the naval and military prison at Corradino Hill. The site also houses an indoor gymnasium and an underground flour mill, which was approved as a Grade 1 National Monument some years back. With such a historic setting, we’re more than aflamed to bite our way through the Pork Trio. The main patty is made from 120gr of breaded pork cheeks. Cheek meat is uniquely lean and tender. While most meat cuts can often be lean but dry or tender but fatty, these cheeks are both! Chefs at fine dining restaurants all across Europe have been steadily introducing this ingredient on their menus, and within the course of five years, pig cheeks have gone from an exotic food crave, to one that is sought after by most common folks! That could also be because the cheeks take the better qualities of the tastier cuts like shoulder, but have much flavourful marbling between the pink strands of meat. But not all is bright and rosy, as cooking cheeks requires a lot of love and thoughtfulness. Something as lean as cheek can grow tough if prepared incorrectly. That’s why Daniel cooks it slow and low, in a stew with spring onions and carrots. Once done, the cheeks are pulled and formed into a patty, breaded and deep fried lightly.

The second level of porky punch comes in the form of a 120gr chunk of pulled pork, slow cooked in jager sauce, to allow the protein to break down properly. Pork shoulder is the ideal cut for pulling purposes, as it has a favourable well-marbled content that prevents the pork from drying out while cooking and tends to create tender, melty meat. As the pork cooks, the fat melts and self-bastes during the process. The long hours invested will reward the chef and our stomach with tender, juicy shreds of piggy goodness. The zesty jager sauce is a well-kept secret of Daniel’s, but its consistency is similar to a thick bbq-like sauce, with elements of Jagermeister, cola, Worcestershire and ketchup… or something on those lines. This sauce is a bomb and provides the burger with a unique flavour, but at the same time, it does not overrule the meat. Having 1 sauce that dominates the whole taste would be a grave mistake, but luckily this is not the case here.

The third meat level surfaces as one of the most traditional and comfort use of pork… the bacon! Daniel promises crispy streaky bacon, 3 long slabs to be more precise, so we await impatiently. Every burger with bacon worth its name is judged by the level of crispiness of its bacon. Any wannabe can do soft, squishy bacon, the kind we despise more than dry meat. We know that even top chefs had to learn the basics of cooking when they first started out, but when it comes to bacon and the local burger scene, many tend to get stuck at novice level, and never step up their game to become a confident cook. Where is that dehydrated, crunchy, crusted thin slice of bacon we love? That bacon from the traditional English breakfasts of years gone by, where preparation was key, as excess fat had to be drained from the pan, and rested on a paper bag to avoid the extra-grease effect. We tend to ponder on that many times when we are regaled with a bacon burger. But not today! This bacon is firm and crispy, and you can feel the crunch effect between your teeth. The bacon is nailed dead on and has an enjoyable, porky smokiness, whilst the salty flavour intensifies the pork experience threefold. And thanks God, there’s a whole lot of it!

Just in case you thought that this burger is pork, pork, pork, there’s also a double dose of Leicester cheese! This English cheese is very similar to cheddar, although it is mild in flavour. The cheese stays melty right until the end of the burger but has the double function of enveloping and binding the pulled pork layer, both from the top and bottom. There’s nothing worse than biting on a burger and finding out that half of the pulled pork has painted a new design on your shirt. The bun is made in-house at the Eat Me I’m Famous bakery which is part of the same group of restaurants. It’s fluffy and tasty and looks very distinctive with its black seeds on top. Not all buns are up to the task, especially when it comes to hefty burgers with a lot of meat inside. This one holds really well and does not crumble all over when the time to bite comes. It shows that it has been specifically built to do the job the right way round. There’s also rucola for texture, a big slice of tomato, and more jager sauce at the base.

The Pork Trio burger excels on all counts, and despite all the pork inside, it’s very easy to bite into. Each layer of pork would make a good burger element on its own, but the 3 different textures put in one burger show an engrossing level of culinary thinking and execution, with a fruitful design and form, which unfortunately is something we don’t see every day. It’s akin the Lamborghini of Pork burgers as far as the local scene goes, and indeed we had no problem eating it all! We devoured it just like the big bad wolf always wanted to do with the 3 little piglets! We’re glad that Chef Daniel did not follow the current trend of just putting a chunk of pulled pork on a beef burger and stop there. We hope that Daniel places this one on the menu more often. If that’s the case, be sure we will be sneaking around Ras Hanzir again.

HANGing OUT with the Pulled Pork Burger in Msida

Upon request from a number of readers, today we are off to check out HANGOUT. This is a pretty new place in the University area (Msida). Indeed it opened its doors a few months back, in late 2016.

The place is modern and stylish and offers an excellent selection of burgers with a twist. One can select his favorite bread from 8 different varieties, choose a patty & fill from a long list, and add a preferred sauce. The possibilities are practically endless, which makes our visit even more exciting.

We are greeted by Jeff, a young & very enthusiastic man, who is one of the owners. Jeff is a very hands-on person, and he’s always around checking that everything is running smoothly and efficiently and that the customers are having the best experience possible. As a youth, Jeff had a lucrative business that had nothing to do with catering. He left that behind for his growing love for food. Jeff wanted to do things the right way up, so he found the best chefs on the island and started to train with them. Slicing onions and potatoes by day, and researching new recipes by night, Jeff began to lay out his biggest master plan to date. Fast forward a few years, and we now find him opening the doors of HANGOUT.

Apart from the customized burgers, HANGOUT has a few house specialties. We opted for the Pulled Pork burger. The patty is made from 170g of beef. The meat is sourced locally on a daily basis, so it’s fresh as it can be. It’s an 80/20 mix of protein/fat, which yields delicious results. Cheese and a substantial portion of pulled pork (also roasted in-house) go on top, with a dollop of BBQ sauce. If you like your burger well-sauced, you’re in for a real treat here! The burger is finalized with crispy onions, tomatoes, and lettuce. Everything goes into an olive-spiced Ciabatta (our choice of bread), which we get to know is specially made for HANGOUT by a local bakery.

It shows that the beef is daily fresh, as it’s very juicy and succulent. The overall BBQ flavor is to die for. As the burger is devoured, we move onto the fries. We have an excellent selection that ranges from sweet potatoes to fries with cheese, flavors, and spices. The fries are crispy and tasty as they can be. Perfect!

We asked Jeff how he’s managing the daily fresh part of the business because we know that it has its challenges. Indeed, it’s expected that the kitchen will run out of prime materials if a big group of customers suddenly turns up altogether… here we see Jeff run off to his suppliers and come back in record time, with bags full of meat and bread!

We bid farewell to HANGOUT… but not for long. Whenever #MALTAburgers smells good food, be sure that we will be back soon!