Name: Reseña de Islak hamburger por hurkanakbiyik en Beré Nali Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Países Bajos
Item: Islak hamburger
Rating: 4.3
Author: hurkanakbiyik

A small beef patty in a soft bun, dipped in a garlicky tomato sauce and left to sweat in a steamed glass cabinet until the bread is damp all the way through: that is the ıslak hamburger, the wet burger, and it belongs to one street in Istanbul. Taksim Square's büfe counters have sold it since the 1960s, Kızılkayalar being the name most people associate with it, and it is eaten at any hour but is most itself after midnight, bought by the pair and finished in the time it takes to cross the square. It costs little, it is the size of a fist, and it has almost nothing in common with an American burger beyond the shape. The point is the bun: the sauce soaks in, the steam keeps it soft and warm, and the whole thing compresses in the hand into something closer to a dumpling than a sandwich.

The patty is a thin disc of seasoned beef, often with a little bread and onion worked in, grilled on a flat plate and finished in the sauce. The sauce is the signature: tomato paste or puréed tomato cooked down with plenty of garlic, a little butter or oil, salt and sometimes a touch of sugar or chilli, thin enough to soak into bread rather than sit on it. The buns are small, soft, slightly sweet milk rolls. Each burger is assembled, the cut faces of the bun brushed or dipped in the sauce, then stacked in the heated glass vitrine, where a tray of water underneath keeps a constant steam. They sit there for an hour or more, and regulars say the longer ones are better. There is no lettuce, tomato slice or cheese; ketchup and mayonnaise are available but off-recipe.

Judge an ıslak hamburger by squeezing it: the bun should give completely and feel moist, not wet to dripping and not dry at the top. The sauce should taste of garlic and cooked tomato and be hot, and it should have reached the centre of the bread. The patty is small and should be tender and seasoned, but it is not the main event, and a thick, dry or crumbly patty throws the balance off. Mark down a bun that has gone to paste, which means too long in the cabinet or too thin a sauce; a cold or lukewarm burger, which means the steam was off; and anything served fresh off the griddle without the soak, which is simply a small hamburger. Outside Istanbul the dish is now copied widely, and the copies are judged against the Taksim original.

Islak hamburger

Netherlands

Beré Nali Amsterdam

Overall a nice wet burger from this location. I could eat one more but it was expensive for a small burger.
Ketchup taste was there which I like in the sauce. From the classic version they added onioins and a melted cheese which made the taste better.

What was I missing? Of course, the hot & spicy feeling. In the original version is spicy which I like more.

Reseña de Islak hamburger por hurkanakbiyik en Beré Nali Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Países Bajos

Hamburguesa de Islak

Beré Nali Amsterdam

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