A healthy approach to late-night burger vans

3:29pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

Who would have thought I'd be praising beefburgers sold from a street van catering for late-night revellers and students once Michaelmas term begins. If they were burgers made from meat scraped from the bone and mixed with crushed testicles and eyeballs, they obviously wouldn't warrant a mention, but they are not. They are organic burgers, created from known cuts of beef, which is minced and mixed with organic onions, freshly harvested herbs and butter, then seasoned with Malvern salt and served with an organic salad and a choice of home-made sauces.

The healthy organic burger venture is the brainchild of caterer Will Pouget, who runs The Vaults and Garden, beneath and beside the University Church, and the Alpha Salad Bar in the Covered Market. Will is convinced it's the obvious way to go and believes that when he sets up his Healthy Organic Kebab van in St Giles, it will be a first.

While discussing his new venture, he explained that we have to accept that young people love burgers.

"I aim to give them exactly what they want. The only difference will be the ingredients. The meat, herbs and seasonings that go into my burgers will be of the finest quality. I will definitely not be serving junk food," he said with conviction.

"The meat in my burgers will come from the University Farm, at Wytham, and the vegetables will be come from Worton Organic Farm, near Cassington, and, what's more, my prices won't be much higher than those charged by traditional kebab vans."

Will is excited about this new venture. He sees it as a great way of taking his healthy food philosophy to the streets of Oxford.

Eight years ago, Will opened The Alpha Bar, which is now immensely popular with those seeking the healthy option sandwich and salad lunch. He then took over The Vaults and Garden Café, which is in historic vaulted premises dating back to 1320. It was built as the Congregation House, and is linked with St Mary the Virgin. Some describe this venue as one of the finest locations in Europe as its garden looks out on the very heart of Oxford - Tthe Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College and All Souls.

His vision, when opening both the Alpha Bar and The Vaults, was inspired by his childhood. As the son of Baron Robert Pouget, a French aristocrat turned entrepreneur, who founded the Oxford Cheese Company, Will began helping out at his father's counter in the Covered Market when he was a teenager.

He admits that he didn't have the confidence to greet and interact with strangers when working there initially. However, he soon came to enjoy the experience. He now sees serving the public as a giving' process and relates to people on a personal basis.

"I realised that it was a matter of really engaging with people. Once I began doing that, I soon discovered that dealing with the public could be a stimulating experience."

Having been brought up on home-cooked food and loads of freshly harvested vegetables, Will's love of wholesome food spurred him on to open the Alpha Bar in his early twenties and then The Vault's and Garden Café, which serves home-cooked food throughout the day.

He said: "We never use microwave ovens, non-stick or aluminium cookware or any convenience food service catering products at the Vaults. Our food is cooked by a team of enthusiastic youngsters, who add their own spin to traditional cooking styles and recipes."

Will went on to explain that the sauces and salads he plans to serve in the van have been tested and developed in the Vaults kitchen.

"We have come up with several kinds of burgers too. The Mexican spicy burger, for example, which will contain the Mexican chipote, a smoke-dried jalapeno chili which until relatively recently was only to be found in the street markets of Mexico."

The chipote is now considered a key ingredient when cooking Mexican food, as it imparts a relatively mild, but nevertheless distinct, earthy spiciness to dishes.

A Moroccan burger is planned too, which will be made from minced lamb mixed with garlic and mint. Will says his cooks are also working on a falafel burger, a black bean burger too, but they haven't perfected these recipes yet.

All the burgers can come on a bed of salad and will be served in an unbleached cardboard box. Unbleached napkins and wooden knives and forks created from sustainable wood will be offered too.

"It's about getting people to think of both the food they eat and the tools required to eat it with too," he said.

The sauces offered with the burgers will include the classic Caesar dressing, yoghurt raita, and spicy Jamaican jerk-style sauce, all of which will be prepared at the Vaults.

'We will serve quite a few really spicy sauces in the van, as people eating late at night want spicy food. Smoothies and fruit juices will be on the menu too," he said.

Will accepts that his van will probably be catering mainly for the young people of Oxford, many of whom are already customers of the Alpha Bar and therefore familiar with his food philosophy and the type of food he serves.

"The Alpha Bar has a cult following. I have never had to advertise. Its success and the popularity of The Vaults is due to word of mouth. I am hoping that it will be the same when my organic kebab van makes its entrance."

Will also intends to take the van to country fairs such as Wychwood Forest Fair, which takes place at Aston Road, Ducklington, on Sunday. He is convinced his wholefood approach to the fast food scene will be popular with people of all ages.

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