The Legendary ‘Ernest Hemingway Burger Recipe’ Is Something EVERY Bro Should Bookmark

Ernest Hemingway is, was, and will always be synonymous with the adventure, the pursuit of the unknown, and what it means to be a man (for better or worse). And because Ernest Hemingway was such a prolific writer and public figure for most of his life we’re able to know more about him than many other authors throughout history, such as his favorite books/authors (James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Gustave Flaubert), his favorite bar in Cuba (El Floridita), his favorite drinks and liquors (Whiskey and Soda, The Martini, The Daiquiri, Gin & Tonic, Dripped Absinthe, and Campari-based drinks). We also have the recipe to Ernest Hemingway‘s favorite burger, his own personal recipe comprised of rare ingredients prepared in a way that results in a hamburger as manly as Ernest Hemingway himself, this is that recipe.

It’s not a terribly complicated recipe, but the Ernest Hemingway burger recipe requires some pretty unique ingredients, ones that might require you to search around to more than one store for all the requisite items. So my advice to you is this: bookmark the ‘Ernest Hemingway Burger Recipe’ right now, and save the list of ingredients. Passively gather them together over time, and once you’ve got all the quasi rare ingredients together to make Ernest Hemingway’s own burger then revisit this article and make yourself Hemingway’s legendary piece of beef.

Ernest Hemingway’s Burger Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground lean beef

2 cloves, minced garlic

2 little green onions, finely chopped

1 heaping teaspoon, India relish

2 tablespoons, capers

1 heaping teaspoon, Spice Islands sage

Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning — 1/2 teaspoon

Spice Islands Mei Yen Powder — 1/2 teaspoon

1 egg, beaten in a cup with a fork

About 1/3 cup dry red or white wine

1 tablespoon cooking oil

What to do:

Break up the meat with a fork and scatter the garlic, onion and dry seasonings over it, then mix them into the meat with a fork or your fingers. Let the bowl of meat sit out of the icebox for ten or fifteen minutes while you set the table and make the salad. Add the relish, capers, everything else including wine and let the meat sit, quietly marinating, for another ten minutes if possible. Now make your fat, juicy patties with your hands. The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny. Have the oil in your frying pan hot but not smoking when you drop in the patties and then turn the heat down and fry the burgers about four minutes. Take the pan off the burner and turn the heat high again. Flip the burgers over, put the pan back on the hot fire, then after one minute, turn the heat down again and cook another three minutes. Both sides of the burgers should be crispy brown and the middle pink and juicy.

The Ernest Hemingway Burger Recipe has been making the rounds on blogs for years, and today I’ve cobbled together his legendary hamburger recipe (pics + instructions) from both LeoAtLarge and DangerousMinds. Those instructions above came from DangerousMinds.net, and the picture of Ernest Hemingway’s burger recipe came from LeoAtLarge, a food blog which has A LOT more photos on preparation and the finished product).

As noted on LeoAtLarge, the Mei Yen Powder that was used in Ernest Hemingway’s burger recipe is no longer on the market, but you can get an extremely close approximation of the umami flavor by combining several other ingredients, they suggest the following: “Most stores that carry Spice Island brand spices will have Beau Monde, but the Mei Yen Powder was discontinued a few years ago, so I used Ms. Tan’s recommendation of a mixture of 9 parts sugar to 9 parts salt to 2 parts MSG, then using 2/3 tsp. of the mixture with 1/8 tsp. of soy sauce.”

So, bros, I now task you with going forth into the world and making this infamous hamburger recipe for yourself and your bros, then sending me pics of the finished product on my Twitter so I can feature them on the BroBible Instagram, where I’ve been known to feature plenty of burger pics in the past!