After our last race in Saudi Arabia, it’s now time to swap one side of the world for the other as F1 heads off to Melbourne, Australia. The return to Albert Park will be the first time Formula 1 has had an Australian GP since 2019 and after 3 long years without a race there, we’ll be celebrating it by showing you just how you can make a traditional Aussie burger and just what makes it so unique.
How the last race in Saudi Arabia went?
With last year’s thrilling visit to Jeddah’s “Corniche Circuit” featuring plenty of controversy and drama, this year’s Saudi GP was thrilling to watch for all the right reasons instead. Qualifying was entertaining throughout as Hamilton didn’t make it out of Q1 for the first time since 2009 and we also got to watch Sergio Perez claim his first pole position of his career as he outshone both Ferrari’s and his teammate Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Sadly for the Mexican, Perez wasn’t able to convert his pole into a win after he became the victim of an unfortunately timed safety car, which saw him drop down to fourth where he remained for the rest of the race.
Sergio’s misfortune paved the way for all our enjoyment though, as we were treated to a brilliant battle later on in the race between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. The Monégasque driver, Leclerc, inherited the lead from Perez during the safety car and then held onto it for most of the race. That was until a late surge from Verstappen saw the two go head-to-head on track as they both fought for the lead. After multiple battles where both drivers showed us just how much talent and intelligence they have, it was Verstappen that eventually won out, leaving us now with a few question marks as to who will come out on top at this weekends Australian GP.
Why have we missed racing in Australia so much?
When the teams last arrived at Melbourne’s “Albert Park” in 2020, the teams weren’t even able to make it onto the track as just hours before the first practice session was set to take place, the whole event was cancelled after a member of the McLaren team tested positive for Covid. Unfortunately, Covid was the reason once again why we couldn’t race in Australia in 2021, however this year, we’re finally back.
Although it’s no longer the first race we see on the calendar, we can still congratulate Albert Park this weekend on hosting its 25th Australian GP, a huge achievement I’m sure they’ll be proud to celebrate. For many of those years, the track remained unchanged however since we last visited there in 2019, the track has undergone a few alterations from its classic layout, something to look out for when watching this weekend.
With a long-awaited return and its tweaks to the track, the drivers will be ecstatic at being able to race again on this historic circuit but there’s one driver who will be more excited than most, Daniel Ricciardo. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the loveable Aussie with a huge grin on his face the entire weekend…well, more so than usual anyway.
What to expect at the Australian GP?
Firstly, the race isn’t going to be on at one of its more regular starting times. That means that for us Europeans, it's finally going to be our turn to wake up at a bizarre time to tune into the action.
The early start should be all worth it though as we can expect to see some pretty exciting racing this weekend. With Mercedes and Red Bull bringing some new upgrades to their cars, the battle at the front could potentially look a bit different to what we’ve seen in our first two races. Ferrari are still set to have one of the fastest cars this weekend but it should be interesting to see if the other teams can make up ground on them as the Italian team in red currently lead the Constructors Championship.
So…what exactly IS an Aussie Burger?
If you’ve never heard of an Aussie burger before, you may think that it sounds just like a normal burger initially. It's got the burger itself, the bun, lettuce, tomato and cheese which you’ll find on pretty much any regular burger around the world. So what is it then that makes this burger so different? Well, it's all the extra bits on it that make this burger just so special but bare with me because some of them may sound a bit weird at first if you’ve never had one before.
Firstly, it has pineapple on it. This is actually my favourite part of the Aussie burger because it contrasts with the rest of the burger so brilliantly. The sweetness you get from a ring of pineapple, mixed with the savoury flavour from the burger itself, is a combination that just works together beautifully. Also, the juiciness you get from the pineapple when you bite into it is another reason to love this addition.
The second topping that’s also on this burger is a fried egg. Now this isn’t always seen on an Aussie burger but if you were to make an “Aussie burger with the lot”, then you’d need to make sure that you’ve added a fried egg onto it. For my recipe here, I’ve not added one onto my burger but if you want to make it “with the lot", then feel free to add one on yourself.
Lastly, and perhaps the most obscure addition if you’ve never heard of it before, is...beetroot. Now please don’t instantly turn your nose up at the thought of putting beetroot on a burger, I had my own reservations at first but trust me when I say that it does work. Some recipes you see may use just pickled beetroot on theirs, but for the one I’ve made here for you today, I’ve used a beetroot relish instead that may sound a bit more tempting for you try.
Recipe For An Aussie Burger
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
500g High Fat Minced Beef (20%-25% fat content preferably)
4 Burger/Brioche Buns
1 Lettuce
1 Medium Sized Tomato
1 Pineapple
1 Pack of Cheese (Swiss/Emmental/Cheddar/Gouda are all good choices)
Burger Seasoning
1tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1&1/2tsp Paprika
1/4tsp Oregano
1/2tsp Brown Sugar
1tsp Onion Granules/Powder (diced fresh onion is also fine)
1tsp Garlic Granules/Powder (minced fresh garlic is also fine)
Beetroot Relish
100g Pickled Beetroot
½ Small Red Onion
20ml Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch of Ground Cinnamon
½ Star Anise
25g Brown Sugar
1/4tsp Salt
70ml Water
2 Pinches of Chilli Flakes
Instructions
1. Cut the beetroot and red onion into small thin strips, roughly 1cm-2cm long and then add into a saucepan with the rest of the beetroot relish ingredients on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has gone.
2. While this is cooking, grab a large bowl and add in the mince and burger seasoning before then mixing the two together until it forms a large ball.
3. After this, split the ball into 4 equally sized smaller balls.
4. Once done, gently shape and squash the balls until they resemble the shape of a burger. Remember, your burgers will shrink inwards as they cook so always flatten them more than what you expect your finished burger to look like.
5. Next, place a small divot into the centre of each burger. This will help your burgers remain in their disc like shape and stop them from becoming more rounded, like a meatball.
6. At this point, place the burgers to one side so that you can focus on finishing off your beetroot relish.
7. Once the relish is finished, set to the side to cool as it’s best to serve this at room temperature.
8. While this cools, begin slicing your pineapple rings, ensuring that you remove the core from each one. One ring per burger will be plenty. While doing this, it’s also probably easier to cut your tomato and prep your lettuce at the same time, ready for later.
9. Next, in an oiled griddle pan/on a grill/BBQ, cook the pineapple rings on a high heat until both sides are lightly caramelised in colour.
10. Once done, place the pineapple to one side and then add your burgers into the same pan/grill/BBQ. You may need to add a touch more oil, depending on how much you first put in.
11. Cook your burgers on a medium-high heat until ¾ of the burger looks cooked from the base, before then flipping the burgers over. At this point, your burgers should also be browned slightly on the bottom where the grill lines have been.
12. Cook the other side of the burger on a high heat until all sides look cooked. Turn the heat down to a low medium for a further couple of minutes to ensure the middle of your burgers are also cooked.
13. Once done, remove the burgers and place somewhere where they’ll remain warm for a couple more minutes.
14. Either in a new pan or on another part of the grill/BBQ toast your buns for a minute on each side, being careful not to burn them.
15. Finally, build your burgers however you desire, making sure you have decent spoonful of beetroot relish and your pineapple rings added.
Tips
Make sure you buy mince with high fat content like I mentioned in the ingredients section. This ensures your burgers don’t dry out as much while cooking and are nice and juicy when you take a bite.
If you’re worried about your burgers coming out dry, try adding on an extra bit of oil partway through their cooking. If your able to, try using the same oil that they’re already cooking in (a silicone brush is perfect for doing this with.)
If you’re wanting to have a super juicy burger, try cutting your pineapple a bit thicker than you might expect. In my opinion, 1cm to 1&1/2cm is the perfect thickness.
If you enjoyed this recipe/post, please let us know either below or via socials. Our next race is a couple weeks after the Australian GP so be sure to check back with us then when the teams will be traveling to Europe for the Emilia Romagna GP in Italy. We'll be making some delicious Italian food for it here that you're definitely not going to want to miss.
Comentarios