I’m extremely proud of these! They’re sort of inspired by my trip to Finland, where at your local fast-food joint you can get burgers shoved between two slices of Finnish rye bread. These beauties are really dark and mysterious, with the distinctive taste of juniper and a little venison bouillon to make them extra tasty. I tried very hard to find some typical Finnish food during my visit and as I failed, I tried to imagine a recipe inspired by the art and landscape of the country. That may sound a little pretentious but can’t you just imagine the Moomins eating a blackberry salad?

Recipe(serves 2)

For the burgers:

• 250g beef mince
• 6 juniper berries
• 1 teaspoon of venison ‘extract’ (not sure if this can be found outside of Sweden and is a bonus but by no means necessary)
• Salt & Pepper

Blackberry salsa:

• 100g fresh or frozen blackberries
• Balsamic vinegar
• Fresh mint
• Coarse sea salt

Crush and finely chop the juniper berries and add to the mince along with the venison extract. Season. Shape into patties and fry in a hot griddle pan for approx. 5 minutes on each side.

Slice the blackberries in half, drizzle with a bit of balsamic, scatter over some torn mint leaves and a pinch of sea salt.

Serve with something dark green and some strong mustard!

This combination of juniper and game flavours works really well in a Ragu for lasagne or spaghetti as well, try it out.