Oriental Burger & Coca-Cola Life

For the past few weeks, I’ve been having a regular craving for Oriental-themed burgers. The aroma of crispy grilled meat combined with cumin, coriander and sumac is just too beguiling. With the very first bite, you feel transported back to the streets of Istanbul, where similar scents waft through the air on almost every street corner, bearing witness to charcoal, köfte, kebab and a thousand other delicacies.

This weekend I made a lighter version of the burger. The new lightness here is primarily a credit to the accompaniment, a summery couscous and asparagus salad. In addition, the burger is only served with the best ingredients: meat (beef and lamb) from the trusted butcher, homemade buns with the miracle dough from Stevan Paul’s “At hand”, plus lots of lettuce, tomatoes and onions, as well as a strong guacamole (with lots of cilantro and chili), plus a Greek yogurt, briefly mixed with a pickled salt lemon. On top some pancetta, which I grilled in the oven until very crispy. Spicy, hot, crispy and coated in quite a bit of flavor in a light, fluffy bun. Perfect.

For the salad, I dressed couscous with a light veal stock and cooked six spears of asparagus until very crisp. Add radishes, lots of cilantro and flat-leaf parsley, fillets (and juice) from two blood oranges, and plenty of coarsely chopped pistachio nuts. For the dressing, a generous drizzle of the best olive oil and a touch of thyme honey will do.

The classic accompaniment is, of course, an ice-cold Coke. In particular, the new Coca-Cola Life. After all, it offers the same, real taste, with significantly fewer calories and sugar. An ideal combination to this summer light dish: full focus on the taste. With slightly fewer calories.

Coca-Cola Life was first launched in Argentina and Chile in the summer of 2013, but deliveries are now also gradually beginning in Germany. The new family member will then also be available nationwide from the beginning of May 2015.

In Coca-Cola Life, stevia extract replaces more than one-third of the sugar (37 percent). 100 ml of Coca-Cola Life contains only 27 kilocalories. For comparison, a 200 ml glass of Coke contains 84 kilocalories, while a 200 ml glass of Coke Life contains 54 kilocalories.

The stevia plant originates from Paraguay and is descended from the same botanical family as chrysanthemums. In South America, it has been cultivated for about 200 years and used as a sweetener in foods and beverages. The purified extracts from stevia leaves can be up to 350 times sweeter than sugar and are completely calorie-free.

Sponsored by Coca Cola