The hamburger is considered the unspoken symbol of America, like jeans or Coca-Cola. An American sandwich of various prices and filling levels is available to any resident of this country, there are legends about it, almost every restaurant includes a burger in its menu.
Initially, this type of sandwich meant meat between two pieces of toasted bread, but today there are many options for burgers with fish and cheese, and with other ingredients, sometimes incredibly expensive.
Hamburger stories
Even 8 centuries ago, the Mongolian military, making a long journey, carried the meat of horses and camels under the saddle, where it was beaten off during the race and cooked under the influence of the body temperature of the horses. It turned out jerky, which the military ate with kumis. Later, this idea will form the basis of the Tatar steak, but first the recipe came to Hamburg with Russian merchants, where the Hamburg steak was invented – minced meat, formed into a cutlet and fried in breadcrumbs.
The steak recipe has spread throughout the neighboring countries and historians are still arguing over who first came up with the idea to put a cutlet between pieces of bread and present it as a separate dish.
It is believed that the name hamburger comes from the German city of Hamburg, because it was German immigrants who brought the recipe for fried pork in bread to America. Another version says that this city is the state of New York, where in 1885 the enterprising Menchis brothers fed fair visitors with beef patties in a bun. In parallel, in the same year in Seymour, chef Nagrin was selling Charlie’s Hamburger, which consisted of meatballs embedded in bread.
Texas chef Fletcher Davis invented his hamburger in 1880, a mustard and onion cutlet stacked between two slices of bread.
But the Bilby family from the city of Tulsa believes that the authorship of the hamburger belongs to their ancestor – in 1891 he cooked cutlets and stuffed them into yeast buns. This year has been “prolific” for yet another patty sandwich author – Otto Kuasawa cooked beef patties and served them in a fried egg roll. Over time, the egg was removed.
In 1900, it is from this date that the history of the appearance of the hamburger is considered, Louis Lessing prepared his own version of this dish for a client – he fried a cutlet and served it between two slices of toast with sauce and lettuce.
About 30 years later, Walter Anderson of Kansas made the hamburger the main dish of his chain of eateries – that’s when the hamburger became a very recognizable and often ordered dish.
Another chain of cafes, Wimpy Grills, made hamburger the most affordable food – it was affordable for all segments of the population and was cooked for no longer than one minute.
The McDonald’s fast food chain also influenced the popularity of hamburgers by improving the recipe, serving, speed and lowering the price. And the ability to buy food without leaving the car made it popular among motorists.
Interesting facts about the hamburger
Hamburgers are scolded because of their high calorie content and ingredients, which include GMOs, chemical additives, preservatives that are unhealthy. Repeatedly, hamburgers, forgotten for several years somewhere in a garage or utility room, did not change their appearance or taste. So David Whipple from Utah found a hamburger in his jacket pocket, bought 14 years ago, which only slightly hardened, but did not deteriorate in the least.
Florida-based Harry Spurl is the most famous collector of everything related to hamburgers. If something – from a pin to a carpet – comes in the form of a hamburger, Harry immediately adds an unusual exhibit to his collection. His car is also shaped like a hamburger.
The world’s largest hamburger was prepared in Japan – it weighed 136 kg, was 92 cm in diameter and 44 cm high. The hamburger was being prepared for a whole week. In 2012, the record was broken in Canada – the weight of the new heavy hamburger was 268 kg.
In 2012, Harvard students launched a hamburger into space by spraying it with a special spray and attaching a camera and GPS sensor to it. The hamburger flew into space on a helium balloon, but after 30 kilometers the balloon burst.
The most expensive hamburger costs $ 5000. It is sold in Las Vegas, the Fleur restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel. The hamburger is served with truffle sauce, truffles, truffle brioche bun, accompanied by expensive vintage wine.