PHOTOS: Gourmet burger festival opens in Pula

by croatiaweek
August 13, 2022
in Food & Wine

Gourmet Burger Festival opens in Pula (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Sixteen different flavours and aromas of juicy burgers will spread through Tito’s park in the Croatian city of Pula until August 28.

Organised by the creative agency Kokoš ili jaje and with the support of the City of Pula, locals and tourists will be able to try various meat delicacies as the Zagreb Burger Festival is held for thee first time outside of Zagreb.

(Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Whether you are a fan of classic or perhaps more unusual flavours, you will be able to choose something to your taste. It is important to emphasise that the burgers at this Festival are classified as gourmet experiences, the meat is homemade, the sauces are mostly made by hand with a pinch of creativity, and the pastries are also specially selected.

(Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

The goal of the organiser is to raise the bar of quality with each festival, so that the burger gets its well-deserved gourmet place and stops being perceived as fast and low-quality food.

(Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Five burger houses await festival-goers. For the first time, a new national chain of fast casual concept 4 burgers is appearing on the festival scene with four types of burgers: C1ASSIC, B2CON, SMOK3 JALAPENO and CHIC4EN.

Ivan Goreta from 4Burgers (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

4burgers – C1assic burger (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

These are smash burgers, the specialty of which lies in the way they are made. Namely, the balls of ground beef are pressed on the grill with a burger press into a thin patty, which preserves the juiciness.

(Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

The Picnic Mingle&Fun team from Zadar is very proud of its Blackie burger, which has been declared the best at Zadar Advent for several years in a row. In addition to this, they offer two other types of burgers, one with the vivid name Snow, along with sweet potatoes with different sauces.

Vedran Božičev from Picnic mingle & fun with the Blackie burger (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Picnic mingle & fun – Blackie burger (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Chef’s burger by Ivan Pažanin is a platform that combines the classic with the modern. Classic connoisseurs will feast on the cheeseburger flavour, and true hedonists will surely want to try Basil Garlic and Crispy Kapula, along with delicious fries, onion relish and pancetta chips.

CHEF’S BURGER by Ivan Pažanin – Crispy capula burger (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

The Institute for Burgers, strengthened by the experience and skill of Mate Janković, has already positioned itself as a place of good flavours. The classic Smoke burger, along with the Pepper Jack Burger, enhanced with pepper relish and spicy sauce, and the Bacon jalapeño burger with honey mustard will surely attract a lot of visitors.

Burger chefs together (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

South America served as inspiration for Chef Mario Mihelj from El Toro. In addition to one classic, the El Toro Asado Bacon and the BBQ variant stand out proudly, all three enriched with black Angus meat, along with some interesting sauces such as lime mayonnaise with smoked paprika.

Mario Mihelj from El Toro (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

El Toro – Asado burger (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

Those with a sweet tooth can expect an ice cream fantasy, created by Robert Hromalić at Le Kolač. In addition to exquisite flavours, of which we single out the vegan variant, ice cream with pieces of pancakes and yuzu lemon, for true hedonists there is also a new dessert – toasted ice cream.

Le kolač (Photo credit: Sandro Sklepić)

It will be quite easy to quench your thirst at the Burger Festival. In addition to golden beer, a rich selection of cocktails such as Crazy Scientist, Blue Lagoon and others await you at the Cocktail Bar, and dozens of local brandies at the central bar.