The Hamburg steak as it was called in the 1800’s was served on the voyages from Germany to the United States. The meat patties were quickly cooked and served on two pieces of bread. To attract many of the sailors and European visitors to their eating stands vendors. They would offer the Hamburg style steak on the menu.
With Hamburg steak firmly embedded the American culture in the late 1800’s claims of the way it served in today’s standard is according to Congress woman Rosa DeLaurao.
A ground meat patty served between two pieces of bread was created in America in 1900 by Louis Lassen a Danish immigrant, owner of Louis Lunch in New Haven Connecticut. This is a disputed fact. We’ll give you a few more names and places of the Hamburger in the United States.
Fletcher Davis of Athers Texas sold burgers in the cafe in the late 1800’s before taking them to the World’s Fair in 1904.
Frank and Charles Menches vendor at a county fair ran out of their sausage sandwiches and started using beef instead. It was recorded this took place in 1892 at the Summit County Fair in Akron Ohio.
In 1885 Charles Nagreen now known as hamburger Charlie who made sandwiches that were easy to eat while walking at the Seymour Fair he was only 15 years old at the time.
Evidence that Oscar Bilby in 1891 was the first to serve the Hamburger on a bun in Tulsa Oklahoma. In 1995 Governor Frank Keating proclaimed that the first true hamburger on a bun was created and consumed in Tulsa Oklahoma.
With 40 billion served up in the United States alone has truly become America’s favorite sandwich. It might not have ever happened because in 1906 Upton Sinclair’s Journalistic novel “The Jungle” detailed the unsavory parts of the meat packing industry in America. Ground beef became subject to much scrutiny since it was easy to add meat scraps, fillers and preservatives
In 1921 Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson of Kansas had the vision to open White Castle restaurant. It became the lead way for today’s fast food hamburger success. The White Castle restaurants gleamed with cleanliness bringing the hamburger reputation along with it.
Other national chains that followed were McDonald’s and In-n-Out Burger in 1948, Burger King 1954 and Wendy’s in 1969.
The combinations that have come with the hamburger are endless with ideas being generated without end. Many of you have your own favorite recipe for the burger of your choice.
So next time you pull into your favorite fast food restaurant, fire up the grill or put one on the George Forman grill you’ll know a little of the evolution on the Hamburger.
That is some good information about ground beef and how our food always has a little history behind it.