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The Hamburger: From Hamburg to American Icon

Article Sourced: dpa via Reuters Connect | Photography by Janna Tamargo | Published October 11, 2024


Did the hamburger originally come from the German city of Hamburg? And what did people put on them? To appreciate the hamburger, you need to not only be able to make one, but also to tell its story.


When talk turns to hamburgers, most people know what we mean are handcrafted meat patties.


That is partly thanks to the global proliferation of hamburger restaurants, catering to growing demand for a juicy, meaty sandwich.


Pretty much everyone has tried a hamburger of some variety - but if you are a newcomer to the business of burgers, here are some facts you may not already know.


Do hamburgers really come from Hamburg?


No. Lots of stories come together to help explain the hamburger's origins but if you sandwich them all together, you can see that the hamburger is a joint product of several strands of history.


Sure, you can trace its origins back to the German coast, where you can still get burgers throughout Hamburg and beyond. There, what you'll get if you order one is one or more slices of roast meat sandwiched in a bread roll sliced in two, topped with gravy.


People believe that immigrants who left Hamburg in the 19th century heading for the US brought their recipe for this tasty treat with them, along with all their other belongings as they prepared for a new life. Evidence for this theory comes in the form of a recipe thought to have been written by an immigrant, for a "hamburger steak" back in 1842.


Then there are the two US states that are said to have legally claimed the invention of the hamburger, namely Wisconsin in 1885 or Oklahoma in 1891.


But the name hamburger might also come from the city of Hamburg in New York, originally founded by German emigrants. In 1885, brothers Frank and Charles Menches from Ohio sold a sandwich with ground beef and other ingredients at a fair there.


Other clues lead us to a hamburger restaurant called Louis Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, which used to be owned by Louis Lassen, who was of German descent. He is said to have invented the hamburger in his snack bar around 1900, created for a traveller who was in a hurry. Today, the restaurant is still called the "birthplace of the hamburger sandwich."


But indications also come from St. Louis, Missouri, where the World's Fair was held in 1904. The New York Tribune reported that a man called Fletcher Davis sold two halves of a bun and a patty made of ground steak, plus mustard, pickle and onions.


So whether we are talking about a round patty or other form of meat in a bun, there is certainly plenty of history surrounding the burger.


One thing is for sure, in each case, some creativity is involved and that is also an ingredient when you make one yourself. After all, everyone makes a different combination of toppings, right?


One thing can be said for certain, meanwhile. The name is not related to the word "ham" which could be why we often just call it a "burger" these days.


Okay but what topping did people put on the original burger?


Well that leads us back to the question, what exactly is the original? All we can say for sure is that here is what two hamburgers looked like, back in the day:


Fletcher Davis served his new dish called "hamburger" with ground steak, mustard, pickle and onions at the 1904 World Fair, according to the newspaper report.


Meanwhile, as Louis Lunch hamburger restaurant in New Haven still says today, you only need a few ingredients to enjoy the "true taste of meat." A classic Louis hamburger is a meat patty served between two slices of white toast, accompanied by only cheese, onions and tomatoes. No sauce.


That leads us to the conclusion that the original burger was pretty manageable and practical in terms of its design, even if there are plenty of fancy varieties on sale these days. The rule still holds that the centrepiece of the burger is a patty or piece of meat - or a vegetarian version.


If you put cheese on your burger, what kind should it be?


"As always, it's a matter of taste," says Jan Pflüger, who runs the Brooklyn Burger Bar in Hamburg. "The way we do it is to put the cheese on top of the patty while it's still grilling. Of course, cheeses that melt quickly lend themselves to that."


Cheddar is the classic but Edam, Emmental, Gouda and Gruyère are also good choices, if you ask Pflüger. "The way we do it is we put the cheese on top of the patty while it's still grilling. Of course, cheeses that melt quickly lend themselves to that."


Ultimately, any cheese you like will work, though some harder cheeses like Parmesan may take longer to melt.


Are hamburgers automatically fast food?


You can make them fast and you can eat them fast but that does not necessarily mean hamburgers are fast food, even if they are often used as a shorthand for chains whose products tend to all taste the same.


However, upscale restaurants have also discovered the burger, meaning that many, many creations are available out there. While some are eaten on the go, others can be enjoyed at leisure in a chic setting.


"Homemade burgers made from scratch tend to be slow food and something for special occasions," says Kintrup. He sums up burgers as an "event food" both in terms of the way they are made and how they are eaten.


And they can be healthy, too. Burgers need not necessarily mean an excess of fat, salt and sugar. The ingredients are what counts.





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