Anyone who has watched David Attenborough’s latest documentary, A Life On Our Planet, must certainly have considered what steps we as individuals can take to help slow the rate of climate change. While there’s undoubtedly a lot resting on the shoulders of world leaders we ultimately can’t control, with the production of meat and dairy among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases, adopting a vegan diet - or at least in part - is something real and tangible we can do to help.
I already know several people who have made the switch after watching, while I’m the first to admit it’s not something I could commit to full time, November’s World Vegan Month seems as good a time as any to try some new dishes and recipes, reduce my meat consumption and do my bit where I can.
So when an invite came in to try the Dirty Burger delivery kit from Rudy’s Vegan Diner I couldn’t resist. The diner can be found in Camden Stables Market and serves up classic dirty American food, vegan style. This month they’ve also opened the first ever Vegan Butcher in Islington, for World Vegan Month, serving up everything from pulled ‘pork’ and Bacon to veggie black pudding and meatballs, all of which are 100% vegan.
The Dirty Burger Kit contains everything you need to make two of the Diner’s signature burgers; soya Dirty Burger patties, ‘Vrioche’ burger buns, Bacon rashers, sliced vegan cheese, a sachet of grilled onions, ketchup, mayo, dill pickles and baby gem lettuce. Ordered online and delivered fresh to your door, I was intrigued to get my vegan on.
The kit comes with instructions and a QR code linking to a video, should you need some more expert tutelage. The whole cooking process took about 15 minutes; it was super simple and pretty soon our juicy burgers were stacked up and ready to go. Be warned, you’ll need napkins. It gets messy.
Now I’m a definite cheeseburger addict - I’d eat one daily if I could get away with it - so I thought I’d be a hard one to please when offered a vegan alternative. Reader, it was delicious. The patties were so filling and really flavoursome. The Baycon, while not as crispy as the real thing, was a dose of smoky goodness and even the vegan cheese could have been the real thing and the Vrioche didn’t taste any different to its usual milk-rich counterpart. I have to say, it knocked my socks off.
While I’m not going to give up real cheeseburgers any time soon, I’ll certainly be convinced to make the switch more often if the vegan versions always taste this good.
Dirty Burger DIY Kit £18 for two from www.rudysvegan.com
