JUNE2013

ISSUE 16
10 BURGER VOCABULARIES | 4
Burger terms burger fans
should know.
SINGAPORES BEST BURGERS | 6
A compilation of Singapores
best burgers.
eMagazine
A PURPLE SAGE MONTHLY PUBLI CATI ON
Founder & Publisher
TONY SEOW
Editorial Advisor
SHIRLEY KOK
Editor in Chief
TIDA WETWIJITTRAKAN
Cover image by
JONES THE GROCER
This issue was inspired by someone
I once knew who collected burger
pictures. He was so determined to
ll up his Facebook album with 200
burger pictures from every joint
possible in Singapore and other
Southeast Asian countries that he
traveled to. Initially he wanted the
album to embrace only one burger
from each joint, but eventually gave
up because it was quite impossible
to nd so many burger places,
especially in Singapore. Every week,
it was his mission to try one new
burger with his best friend and it
became something he really looked
forward to. I always anticipated his
feedbacks and was always delighted
to nd that some famous joints are
really mediocre, and some hidden
gems were surprisingly fantastic.
This issue hardly has 200 pictures,
but I had the chance to relive the
burger hunt and chose only the best
of them for you to consider trying.
If its any particular sentiment that I
feel about this issue, its gratitude.
Gratitude for such lovely creations of
every person with a burger passion
that decided to offer it to us, and
respect for that talent and patience
involved in the process of creating
the perfect burger. Heres a toast to
all the beautiful seasonings, cheeses,
lettuces, and sauces involved in this
stacked juicy goodness.
Burger Hunt
Tida
Editor in Chief
Burgers by Jewel Caf and Bar
FUN FACTS 4
10 BURGER VOCABULARIES | Think you are a true burger
fanatic? Find out how many burger terms you know.
SPECIAL FEATURE 6
BURGER COMPILATION | 8 of Singapores best burgers we
think you should try.
A STORY TO TELL 18
MAN, FOOD, & TECHNOLOGY | A juicy interview with software
entrepreneur and food writer Jon Yongfook Cockle.
PICTURE THIS 22
SUMMER OF COLOURS | Purple Sages most vibrant
decorations with spectacular details at your service.
HEALTHY LIVING 24
SALT | One of the most incredible gift by Mother Nature, but
can we do without it?
T A S T E | J U N E 2 0 1 3 CONTENTS
18
22
24
6
4
04
ten
burger
Vocabularies
SLOPPER
A burger smothered in red and
green chilies.
PATTY MELT
A buttered and fried burger with a
patty, sauted onions and cheese
between two slices of rye bread.
AUSTRALIAN BURGER
With minimum ground beef, this
burger includes beetroots, grilled
onion, and sometimes cheese,
pineapple, and a well-done fried egg.
There are many
disclaimers of the
origin of burgers.
Once called
hamburger, many
individuals and cities
in the USA have
claimed they created
and named it after
Hamburg, Germany.
Origins aside, here
are some burger
vocabularies if you
are a burger-fanatic.
FUN FACTS 05
SLIDER
A very small burger patty
sprinkled with diced onions
and sometimes cheese, served
on an equally small bun.
SLUGBURGER
A traditional Northeast Mississippi
delicacy with a patty made from
beef or pork and an extender like
soybeans, deep fried and served
with mustard, pickles and onions.
STEAKBURGER
A burger made with higher
quality meat, such as ground
steak or other lean beef.
LUTHER BURGER
A burger or cheeseburger
prepared with one or more glazed
doughnuts in place of a bun.
LOW CARB BURGER
A burger that uses large pieces
of lettuce in place of a bun.
JUICY LUCY
In Minnesota, USA, this burger has
a cheese slice placed inside the
patty instead of on top, causing it
to melt and ooze out once bitten.
KUBIE BURGER
In Alberta, Canada, this is a
burger made with a pressed
Ukrainian sausage.
01
HUMMERSTONS
BRUNCH BURGER
280 grams USDA Grilled Beef Patty, Applewood-
Smoked Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Tomato, Fried
Egg, Greens, Fresh Jalapeno, Hummerstons Fries
and Spiced Tomato Chili Aioli
Another fabulous burger, Hummerstons
impresses with their largely stacked juiciness.
The applewood-smoked bacon, fried egg, and
jalapenos gave the burger a distinct smokiness
and texture that tastes like breakfast, lunch,
and dinner goodness all in one.
$25.00
HUMMERSTONS
06 BURGER COMPILATION
of the best burgers in Singapore.
Burger
Compilation.
8
Burgers one of the simplest forms of comfort food around
the world popularized by junk food chains, can be one of
the most enjoyable meal to order. When done right, these
beauties are a wonderful gourmet chow. Here are some of
the best that you can nd in Singapore.
07
08 BURGER COMPILATION
02
THE B
BURGER
160g Dry Aged Beef Patty, Caramelised
Onions, French Comt Cheese,Capers
and Garlic Mayonnaise.
Created by the Michelin Star Chef
Bruno Menard, the popular burger
has got all the basics right and is
very juicy. For those with a rich
palate, the burger could use a little
more salt and pepper.
$19.00
&MADE
BURGER COMPILATION 09
03
USDA PRIME
BURGER
280 grams USDA Prime Beef
Patty, Cheddar Cheese, Sauted
Mushrooms, Lightly Toasted Bun,
Steak Fries.
If you are looking for a less-is-
more burger, Mortons Steak
House does it best. Besides
great steaks, they are also
known for their simple yet
mouthwatering burgers. There
are also choices of Swiss or
Crumbled Blue Cheese for the
stronger palates. For a more
complex burger, add sauted
onions and crisp bacon as well.
$35.00
MORTONS STEAK HOUSE
04
DE BURG
BURGER
200g Australian Striploin Patty, BBQ
Sauce, Cheese, Grilled Crispy Bacon,
Grilled Portobello, Salad, Tomato
slice, Onions, and Mayonnaise.
As decadent as its reputation,
this coffee shop burger joint
never ceases to blow the
mind. Their patty is absolutely
unadulterated no herbs, no
spices, no binding agents, and
the Portobello mushroom adds
tremendous juiciness to the
signature burger as well. Make
sure you say hi to Andrew, the
passionate creator of De Burg if
he is around.
$18.50
DE BURG
10 BURGER COMPILATION
11
05
THE ORIOLE
BURGER
180g US Angus Patty, Cheddar
Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions,
Hand-Cut Chips, and Tomato Relish.
Besides being one of the best
looking burgers, this burger
tastes beautifully smokey. The
tomato relish complemented the
attractive dish brilliantly, giving
a sweet sensation to the salted
angus beef patty. One of the best
parts was the hand-cut chips that
were crisp on the outside and hot
and uffy on the inside.
$25.00
ORIOLE
12 BURGER COMPILATION
13
06
AUSTRALIAN
WAGYU BURGER
200g Premium Australian Wagyu Patty, Bacon,
Gruyre Cheese, Truffe Mayonnaise, Pickles,
Mustard, Bois Boudran Sauce, Caramelised
Onions, House-Baked Bun.
The beautiful burger is awless and
seasoned with fragrant herbs and spices.
The trufe mayonnaise and bois boudran
sauce brought out a great balance of
avours savoury, and mildly sweet
avours of the patty, alongside crunchy
vinegary pickles, and sweet and savoury
caramelised onions.
$26.00
JONES THE GROCER
14 BURGER COMPILATION
07
CUSTOM MADE
BURGER
150grams Homemade Premium
Beef Patty, Homemade Barbeque
Sauce, Aged Cheddar Cheese,
Portobello Mushrooms and
Homemade Bun.
When food is cooked out of
love and passion, one can
always tell. This burger tasted
and looked quite like passion
itself. The avours were rich
and well balanced with added
Portobello mushroom that gave
it the extra juiciness.
$15.00
FAT BOYS
BURGER COMPILATION 15
08
OMG!
BURGER
Stack of Crispy Bacon,
Luncheon Meat, 150g
Beef Patty, Cheddar,
Lettuce, Onions,
Tomatoes, and a
Sunny-Side-Up.
Adrian, the owner,
had gone through
many types of
luncheon meat to
nd the perfect one
to complement this
burger. A fantastic
meal anytime of the
day, try the OMG for
a crisp and crunchy
burger that drips
with luncheon meat
and beef patty
avours something
you probably havent
tried before.
$20.00
JEWEL CAF AND BAR
16 BURGER COMPILATION
17
18
The unique name has been
circulating around Singapores ber
savvy crowd fashion shows, womens
magazines, mens magazines, the
hippest parties in town. The rst time
we spotted him was at Art Stage 2012,
Marina Bay Sands in his sleek black
blazer and clean-cut, slightly grey hair,
a colour only George Clooney and
Richard Gere have been able to pull
off so far. The name is Jon Yongfook
Cockle a software entrepreneur who
rose to popularity in Singapore within
just two years.
He accomplished his rst success in
2008 starting an online recipe portal in
Japan.
It got quite popular and it was just a
place where you can share recipes, he
said, It got featured in TIME magazine
as one of the best websites in 2008. In
2009 he sold it. But it didnt end there.
The second time round, he had joined
Cookpad which ourished into one of
Japans biggest technology company.
They were basically doing what I was
doing on a much bigger scale, he
continued with a sense of seriousness
something we arent so used to when
it comes to talking about food.
Compared to the magnitude of his
pensive look on Instagram, he was
actually rather soft spoken and relaxed
in person. His tweets, on the other
hand, are quite contrary to his real-
life personality, translating into suave
remarks of human behavior, technology,
food trends, and at times even parodic
opinions of his individuality.
As we waited for our fourth burger of
the day to arrive, we nally moved onto
the topic of burgers itself.
What signicance do burgers have in
pop culture? We asked.
Burgers seem to constantly be in
a renaissance, being reinvented or
rened. I think its because a burger
is a really simple canvas for creation -
fundamentally its just meat in a bun,
so as a chef you can riff off that quite
easily. Burgers are close to our heart
because they are probably one of the
few forms of food that you eat as a
kid that you can still justify eating as
an adult, since adult versions are
easy to nd. I dont eat sh ngers or
alphabet pasta anymore as an adult,
but I certainly go out of my way to seek
good burgers!
And how often do you cook?

I try to cook a few times a week actually.
And it depends. If I am dieting or I am
really watching what I eat, then Ill cook
almost every day so I can have complete
control. Right now my gas is broken. So
everything I have been cooking is in my
Le Creuset crock pot. When I feel like
Asian food, I cook curry or rending; and
when I feel like Western avours, I cook
stew, soup, pulled pork, you know.
When it comes to his favourite things
to eat, he prefers anything he would
be too lazy to make himself like soup
dumplings, dim sum, and xiao long bao.
I make gyoza at home a lot. He added.
I think in the last few decades weve seen food and cooking get
adopted by men as a tactic for attracting women. It wasnt always
this way. Now though, it means ones skill at cooking is often looked
at in a subtly competitive way, as men already do with their clothes, or
their jobs, or their karaoke skills. I think this is a net win for everyone,
it means women get treated to nicer food and men learn more about
how to cook well.
- Jon Yongfook Cockle
MAN,
FOOD &
TECHNOLOGY.
A STORY TO TELL 19
20 A STORY TO TELL
So what is the most memorable thing
youve ever eaten?
Good question, he replied. One
dish he still vividly remembers was at
the Australian Chef, Luke Mangans
restaurant called Salt back in Tokyo
where he used to live.
It was a layer of many things. At
the bottom, it was a very crisp and
thin pastry with sweet and savoury
onions in it. The second layer was a
big roasted g which was really oozy,
sweet and tart, and on top of that
was a perfectly salty, naturally oily
piece of mackerel. The combination of
everything in that dish was awesome.
But they switch their menu around
every week or so. He seemed to
love the topic and continued with
another experience he had. I was at
this place called Bo Innovation before
they got their Michelin star. My date
didnt show up. She wasnt a very
nice person. But it turned out to be
of the best meals of my life. I had a
budget for that meal so I got the more
expensive meal for myself. The wine
I had was fantastic. And I had their
molecular Xiao Long Bao - this little
sphere that was lled with Xiao Long
Bao broth. It had an edible polymer
and when you put it in your mouth
it bursts. It was delicious. He then
continued to tell us that he is no longer
into ne dining food these days. Now,
I prefer much more rustic food. I am a
big fan of hawker food so I will go out
and seek, lets say, the best wanton
mee. Best wanton mee Ive ever had
was at Old Airport Road. Therere two
there and theyre both great. Or the
one at lavender food centre which
is probably my favourite. Very long
queue though. But worth it.
How did you start cooking anyway?
I started in 2006-2007 when I was
back in Tokyo. When you are living
alone then you want to learn how to
cook right? When your love interest
comes over, you want to be a good
cook. You want to be able to take
care of the girl you are dating because
you dont want to be a lazy bum
who doesnt know how to make
toast. Actually, I got into it because
of Gordon Ramsey who at that time
wasnt as sensational as he is now.
He had his peak of being a character
of himself when he is doing Hells
Kitchen. He also had a show in the UK
called the The F Word where he got
celebrities in and cooked with them.
It wasnt about his temper at all even
though he had his occasional temper
tantrums. But he is a perfectionist and
he cares about what he does. Before
that it was more about his pursuit
of perfection. If you are a creative
person I think you will understand
that psychology. For the rst time, I
actually thought this is a chef I can
relate to, and I can actually look up
to. I read his back story and its easy
to be impressed by the guy because
he worked really really hard to get to
where he is right now.
We were impressed at how he
casually answered all of our questions
and took generous bites of the burgers
at the same time. As he bit into his last
burger, we proceeded with our last
question:
Share with us some cooking tips?
You need the basics. In terms of cost
benet ratio, the most you can improve
your food by doing the least work is
just by having the basics done right.
Dont buy cheap table salt. Buy proper
salt. Same goes for pepper. Have good
seasoning. Pay a few extra dollars for
good salt. You can taste the difference
immediately. The same goes for olive
oil. You dont need to have 15 different
pans as well. You just need one good
pan. Like a cast iron pan - something
that can transfer heat evenly across
the surface and yeah just by having
those two things, the quality and taste
of your food will improve a lot by not
having to do too much.
BURGER DIRECTORY 21
TASTE JUNE ISSUE DIRECTORY
&MADE
PACIFIC PLAZA #01-04/05/06
9 SCOTTS ROAD SINGAPORE 228210
TEL: 63482838
JEWEL CAF AND BAR
129 RANGOON ROAD
SINGAPORE 218407
TEL: 6298 9216
JONES THE GROCER
ION ORCHARD #04-14
2 ORCHARD TURN SINGAPORE 238801
TEL: 6884 5597
ORIOLE COFFEE
96 SOMERSET ROAD
SINGAPORE 238163
TEL: 6238 8348
MORTONS THE STEAKHOUSE
MANDARIN ORIENTAL SINGAPORE
FOURTH STOREY 5 RAFFLES AVENUE
MARINA SQUARE SINGAPORE 039797
TEL: 6339 3740
DE BURG
119 BUKIT MERAH LANE 1
SINGAPORE 151119
TEL: 6666 6666
FATBOYS
18 MOHAMED SULTAN ROAD
SINGAPORE 238967
TEL: 6735 8840
HUMMERSTONS
ROBERTSON WALK
SINGAPORE 237995
TEL: 8428 1620
22 PICTURE THIS
Summer of
From pastels to
intense hues and even
dazzling incandescent
shades, Purple Sage
proudly brings you a
summer full of activity
and fun in an explosion
of colour. Besides
carefully chosen
dishes to tantalize your
taste buds, Purple
Sage also assists
our clients in venue
sourcing, event styling
and even equipment
rental. Denitely
a worthy place to
stopover this season!
Named after the dazzlingly
coloured birds in ight, these
birds of paradise form an
attractive landscape at events.
An intense fusion of oriental
elements always brings a
sense of sexy to the party.
Scarlet, the colour of passion,
adds a touch of charm to any
chic dcor.
Pops of vibrant summer
colours in the form of
capsicums, red germaniums,
and bright yellow sunowers
make a great decoration for a
lively night of celebration a
feast for both the eyes and
taste buds.
Summer of Colours
Customized violet menu cards
and luscious organza lined
a sunny but breezy rooftop
buffet party.
Intricate and creative
presentations of fresh owers
add a touch of exquisiteness,
creating a memorable
experience for the guests.
Burgundy organza lined the
buffet line of freshly made
dishes at Singapores General
Hospital.
Tall opaque light boxes and
dangling owers of red and
green give resemble ancient
Greek columns at a party at
Gardens By The Bay.
Tiffany Blue organza fabrics
never cease to create an air of
elegance to Western Sit-Down
banquets.
The yellow of sunowers
and ocean blue gives
a brightening effect to
Xiaxues Housewarming
Party buffet line.
23
24 HEALTHY LIVING
The single creation by mother nature that makes your
food more delicious than you ever thought possible.
Salt
It absolutely bafes me when I sample a burger that
has little or no seasoning. It made me realize how
important salt is when it comes to the patties. How
can you not put enough salt on your patty? I once had
a crunchy fresh veggie sandwich. It was walnut bread
with onion slices, tomatoes, coriander, cucumber,
capsicum, mango ginger (this was spectacular),
lettuce, and Gouda cheese. The only seasoning it
had was pink Himalayan salt. And I tell you it was
the best sandwich Ive ever had in my life. The salt
brought out the best avours and fragrance in each
and every single vegetable in that sandwich, and the
toasted crunch of the bread made it perfect. We had it
on Christmas eve and ate it while watching Inception.
It was one of the most memorable Christmas eve Ive
ever had.
For some reason, I wasnt ever able to replicate that
sandwich again. But one thing I know is it made me
realize what amazing things salt does to your food.
Being exposed to many types of cultures and religions
growing up, I was exposed to all kinds of diet. Recently,
it was all the types of fasting done over festivals, the
equinox, and astrologically powerful period. That was
when I also came across this diet.. A diet far worse
than fasting The Salt-Free Diet.
It is a powerful one detaching your mind from the salt
in your food. The body goes into so much of distress
when there is no seasoning in your food. The mind
also starts to nd other things to hold on to whether
it is the lemon in your buttered rice, or vinegar in your
salad. It makes one realize how much we are attached
to the senses in our body.
It boils down to the truth we dont need salt to survive.
Trying the salt-free diet makes you break boundaries,
habits of eating unhealthy food and adding salt to the
familiar avours of your favourite dishes. Eliminating
sodium from your diet ushes out the toxins in your
body and allows your kidney to rest from the hard
work of salt-ushing. After a months time, you start
to realize how strong your mind can be. The willpower
of abstaining from salt gives you a new sense of
determination that your body is stronger than you
think it is, and so is your mind. You can now enjoy the
subtlest of avours in anything and there is a newfound
sense of appreciation for every single dish you try. The
worst thing is...you also realize how much of junk you
have been eating your whole life. You become more
aware of your body and are able to identify what your
body really needs not just cravings of the mind. Your
body feels light, and your conscience is cleared.

So the question is how game are we to try this diet?
One would wonder why anybody would put themselves
through the distress of conquering the mind through
diet restrictions. But if you could overcome the mind
with such focus, you would realize how much more
you could achieve in your life as well. Like I heard
somewhere before Every little thing you do is a
reection of how you view life. So take the challenge,
go the extra mile for your mind and body, and tell us
how amazing you feel afterwards.
25