When I left Auckland, I was an uncomfortable 72kg. As soon as I moved to Melbourne and had no car, that dropped to under 70kg. Shortly after, I discovered clean eating, meditation, yoga and eventually stopped drinking which lead to a comfortable weight of low-mid 60’s. This doesn’t seem much by Angelina Jolie standards, but it is where I feel best about myself -any lower, and life becomes too hungry and I lose my much loved booty.
I don’t like to ‘diet’ per se – I think living in a ‘deprived’ mindset is a terrible way to go about life. Instead I like to focus on nutrient dense foods and eating what makes me feel best. Over time, this has lead me to go from a KFC junkie, to being pretty repulsed by the idea of eating fast food. Occasionally a 2am dirty cheeseburger when out is appealing, but mostly the novelty of it all has worn off and if I’m going to be a little bit naughty, I’d rather something still resembling food made from quality gourmet ingredients.
So when I was invited to try BurgerFuel’s new Blue Velvet Venison and Blue Cheese burger, I was pretty excited for three reasons:
a. I used to work at BurgerFuel when I was in Uni and loved learning all about the high quality ingredients that went into their burgers – I even won $100 in a competition for naming the lean chicken burger “Featherlite”!
b. My new Bae actually hunts venison. When he told me this on our first date I wasn’t sure what to think, but he explained that in NZ, they’re a pest and can damage the bushland so DOC slowly and painfully poison them. So it is actually more sustainable and humane to hunt them respectfully and make use of the game end to end – his uncle lives a humble life in National Park and one stag lasts him a whole year!
c. As mentioned when I want something naugh-tish, BurgerFuel is the ultimate way to do it as they the extra nutrient dense and gluten free options of either a Low Carborator (lettuce wrap) or gluten free bun.
So what is special about this burger? It is the perfect gourmet combination of a free range grilled venison patty, Puhoi Creamy Blue Cheese and blackcurrant and red onion preserve. A pretty rad combination when you feel like blowing your dairy-free restrictions!
Chris Mills (BurgerFuel Worldwide Operations Development Manager and man responsible for creating delicious Burger specials since ages ago) was inspired by the culinary adventure competition, ‘The Local Wild Food Challenge’. The objective was to create a top quality menu offering using a specialty game meat combined with premium locally sourced ingredients. “We spend a lot of time developing seasonal specials with taste profiles that really get us excited and this is one that I think real foodies will enjoy. The combination of the gamey venison with the silky texture of the blue cheese is just sublime”. Deliciously said Chris!
The venison is 100% NZ free range and is locally sourced from approved farms in the Hawkes Bay, carefully managed from pasture to plate. The creamy blue cheese is procured from award winning company Puhoi and is locally sourced from the Puhoi Valley. The Blackcurrant and Red Onion Preserve is made in NZ from locally grown fruit and vegetables, with no added colours or artificial sweeteners. Good work guys!
BurgerFuel has 54 stores across NZ and AU and in my opinion were one of the first chains to do healthier gourmet burgers right in NZ. Chris has an extensive history in the food industry, in hotels, restaurants and cafes alike and he is also a London City and Guilds qualified Master Chef.
I love it when little old NZ produces goodies like this!
Get in quick though, BurgerFuel’s Blue Velvet Burger will be available in New Zealand in store or online at from Monday 2nd May to Sunday 3rd July, or until stocks last. NOM!
