Baked beans and tomato ketchup are two major British staples but usually the only time you’ll see them on the same plate is alongside a Full English.
While the former is great on toast, you’d never expect to see it in a burger as you would a condiment.
This changed for me recently when I tried the new limited edition vegan burger from fried chicken chain Absurd Bird, which contains made-over versions of two of the nation’s favourite ingredients, Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz Beanz.
Created in collaboration with Heinz for Veganuary and costing £10.95, the DHOOM! Burger is an entirely plant-based creation that’s inspired by the flavours of Mumbai.
It consists of a chick’n fillet in a brioche bun that’s topped with chatpata pickles, mango slaw, coriander and shengdana peanut crumble.
Most excitingly though, tandoori Heinz Tomato Ketchup and masala refried Heinz Beanz are also in the mix.
As someone with a tendency to smother my burgers in ketchup, this addition posed no problems, however, the idea of adding baked beans made me mildly nervous.
So, there was nothing left to do but try it myself.
The DHOOM! Burger is available at Absurd Bird’s restaurants in London, Exeter, Leeds and Glasgow, as well as via Just Eat and Uber Eats in those locations.
I initially intended to order in but was sadly out of range for delivery, so instead I sampled it my local branch.
And I’m glad I did because I’ve never had a vegan burger with that much flavour.
Full disclosure I am nowhere close to a vegan but I am keen to reduce my meat intake so I’ve tried tons of meat substitutes and generally, they’ve been bad.
I’m pleased to report that the faux chicken patty in the DHOOM! Burger was nothing like my past experiences.
Not only is the flavour neither bland nor overpoweringly artificial, but the texture was pretty darn believable too – I’m a meat eater and I had to double check with my bite of companion’s actual chicken burger to make sure the DHOOM! one really was meat-free.
I think this owes in large part to the variety of other powerful flavours at play in the burger.
‘Dhoom’ means explosion in Hindi and this burger definitely delivered with the spicy sweetness of the tandoori Ketchup alongside the tangy kick of the chatpata pickles, fresh coriander and nutty peanut crumbs.
It definitely proved a little messy to eat, with tandoori Ketchup ending up on my fingers, but to be honest, I think if that's not happening there's no probably not enough sauce.
As for the baked beans, I will admit I had a tiny heart palpitation when I spotted what appeared to be a loose bean slip out of the bun onto my plate.
However, other than that I pretty much forgot that there were even baked beans in there, so inoffensive was the texture and taste in their newfound form.
All in all, though, I think I want to try making masala refried Heinz Beanz again myself at home?
There’s no going back now I’ve seen that cupboard staple in a new light.
And while not the main purpose of my visit, the extremely friendly staff at Absurd Bird’s Soho branch definitely have to get a shout-out, as do the fun atmosphere and funky décor – the downstairs lights were made out of what looked to be wine decanters!
For London at least, Absurd Bird’s cocktails also a bargain at £7.95.
I had the Strawberry Blonde, made with fresh strawberries, vodka, almond syrup, elderflower cordial, velvet falernum and lemon juice and it tasted like a liquid fizzy strawberry lace – in a good way.
The DHOOM! Burger is available until Monday, January 31, so you’ll need to act fast if you want to try it for yourself.
Or, you can try making it yourself with this recipe. The Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz Beanz are probably in your cupboard already, after all.
