Goldberg Julia - Superiority Burger cookbook: the vegetarian hamburger is now delicious

ALSO BY BROOKS HEADLEY

Brooks Headleys Fancy Desserts:
The Recipes of Del Postos James Beard AwardWinning Pastry Chef

Brooks Headley

with Julia Goldberg, Gabe Rosner, Matthew Silverstein, and Matt Sweeney

Photographs by Sunny Shokrae

Superiority
Burger
Cookbook

EVERYTHING IS VEGETARIAN, A LOT IS
ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN, JUST ASK

Superiority Burger opened at 430 East 9th Street in the East Village of Manhattan on June 25, 2015. Our goal was (and is) to provide vegetarian food of a modest, non-fancy nature, and sell it for as cheaply as possible while still using the best ingredients we can find. We have five swing desks that can accommodate a total of between six and nine humans, depending on how cozy folks want to get. A lot of people get food to take away. Sometimes, weather-permitting, our customers will eat on the sidewalk, sitting on various benches and planters nearby. Tompkins Square Park is 300 feet away; there are park benches there too. All of our food is served in paper boats and is meant to be eaten with biodegradable plastic utensils.

Our space is diminutive275 square feet, including the dining area. Our firepower is limited; we have a steel griddle to cook burgers, four induction burners, and a small inherited convection oven that accepts only half sheet pans. Anything we can make here you can also do at home.

The name of our restaurant is Superiority Burger, but thats a bit of a red herring. Sure, the majority of our business is selling vegetarian hamburgers, but you can cobble together a very nice meal here and avoid the burger altogether. In addition to our sandwiches, sides, and desserts, we offer a single drink, a house-made Arnold Palmer served over pellet ice. We dont sell alcohol. We dont sell bottled water. We think its strange and a con for any restaurant to sell non-fizzy water. There is always a plastic jug of lemon juicespiked NYC tap water at the ready in the dining room. We refill it as fast as our customers drink it, and it is always cold and refreshing. In terms of beverage pairings for any of the recipes in this book, chilled lemon water is the way to go.

Sometimes people refer to us as a fast-food joint. This is only moderately correct. Yes, we try to push out orders as quickly as possible, but sometimes things take a little longer than expected. We are not trying to compete with fast-food establishments. But we do take a hospitality and service approach not unlike fancy, fine-dining restaurants, where a few of us honed our chops and licks.

This cookbook is a document of just about everything we have sold on our main menu and specials board. There are probably some new things since this book went to print; we tend to work fast and in spurts.

Our specials change around a lot when we are feeling particularly inspired and unhinged, and sometimes they hover on a few very good seasonal things that we run until nature stops providing the raw material.

We have never served French fries, fresh-cut or frozen. We do not have a deep fryer.

We cook mostly from a vegan perspective, but do use some dairy sparingly (nondairy options are given for all recipes except for the gelatoswe have yet to crack a vegan gelato code that we feel confident to share publicly, but the coconut sorbet is dairy-free and about as creamy and rich as you could ever want).

We have a photo of actual meat on the wall, in the form of a vintage 1992 White Castle ad (we love White Castle, no joking around). But we are very serious about the vegetarian cooking that goes on here.

THANK YOU.

Salt is kosher and is a given for every recipe (yes, even the sorbets!), even when not mentioned in the ingredients lists. Freshly ground pepper is also standard in almost every savory recipe. Add as much or as little as you prefer. Salt is listed by measurement only in the more exact recipes, like pickled vegetables, spice blends, and cakes. Otherwise, assume you will be adding salt and pepper to the seasoning to your liking. We use lots. But never too much. Sea salt is A-OK too, just be careful as it can be finer grained, therefore more potent.

Sugar is unbleached organic cane sugar unless specified otherwise.

Flour is all-purpose.

Water. Do not underestimate its power. It can thin out an overreduced soup, and it can soften stuff up in a frying pan. Use it wisely and safely.

Spices are purchased from a reliable purveyor and ground the day of or day before doing the recipe. The spices will always taste better, fresher, and more intense. An inexpensive coffee grinder will work nicely for this.

Grapeseed oil is fine for cooking and frying. Sometimes we use a mid-range extra virgin olive oil for cooking as well. Really nice (read: expensive) olive oils are reserved for final garnishing and seasoning right before serving, because olive oil is the best sauce.

We use Hodo Soybrand tofu and yuba. Its expensive, but it has no equal.

For all brown rice applications we use Koda Farms organic brown rice. It deeply transcends regular brown rice.

This book is 95 percent vegan, the exception being a scant use of milk, milk powder, cream (gelato recipes), and labne (in a few different recipes). A high-quality soy, cashew, or coconut vegan yogurt can be substituted for any of the dairy components. We do not use eggs or butter.

We use Guldens brown mustard, B&G hot cherry peppers, Franks RedHot, Matouks Calypso, Delouis Dijon, Bragg Liquid Aminos, and Heinz organic ketchup. Some things are just better not homemade. We feel strongly about this. But we would never use commercial mayonnaise (vegan or real). We use only the chickpea recipe on page 211. This may seem contradictory. We are fine with that.

We have a firm commitment to farmers market fruits, herbs, and vegetables. But if you cant find what you need there due to seasonal availability, then supermarket produce is fine. It will just need a little extra help, but thats what cooking is, right?

Whenever dried pasta is mentioned, go for the blue box of De Cecco. Its widely available and texturally fantastic when cooked to al dente.

Our polenta is from Anson Mills in South Carolina. They ship all over. Support these guys and use their stuff. Its perishable so keep it refrigerated. Its of a completely different caliber from any other polenta you can grab at the supermarket or even that fancy-food shop, the one with the inflated pricing.

We have tried to keep the recipes easy to follow and all on one page. However, a few require using additional recipes found in the back pantry section (see page 203). You will get to know these pantry recipes very well.

All of the measurements are in cups and tablespoons; thats how we cook at the restaurant. Our gelato formula is in metric, though. So you will need a scale, but only for that recipe. An Escali Primo scale is about forty bucks, industry standard, and will never let you down. You will also need a working candy thermometer for the gelato recipe; we love our Thermapen.