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A hamburger is a specific type of burger. It is a sandwich that consists of a cooked ground beef meat patty, placed between halves of a sliced bun. Hamburgers are often served with various condiments, such as dill relish (condiment), mayonnaise, and other options including lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese. [1]
The Texas historian Frank X. Tolbert attributes the invention of the hamburger to Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas. Davis is believed to have sold hamburgers at his café at 115 Tyler Street in Athens, Texas, in the late 1880s, before bringing them to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. [2] [3]
Residents of Hamburg, New York, which is named after Hamburg, Germany, attribute the hamburger to Ohioans Frank Menches and Charles Menches. According to legend, the Menches brothers were vendors at the 1885 Erie County Fair (then called the Buffalo Fair) when they ran out of sausage for sandwiches and used beef instead. They named the resulting sandwich after the location of the fair. [4] [5] However, Frank Menches's obituary in The New York Times stated, instead, that these events took place at the 1892 Summit County Fair in Akron, Ohio. [6]
The Seymour Community Historical Society of Seymour, Wisconsin, credits Charlie Nagreen, now known as "Hamburger Charlie", with the invention of the hamburger. Nagreen was 15 when he reportedly made sandwiches out of meatballs that he was selling at the 1885 Seymour Fair (now the Outagamie County Fair) to make it easier for customers to eat while walking. The Historical Society explains that Nagreen named the hamburger after the Hamburg steak, with which local German immigrants were familiar. [7] [8]
There is good evidence that the first hamburger served on a bun was made by Oscar Bilby of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1891. [9] [10] [11]
In April 1995, the Dallas Morning News reported on an Oklahoma author who said that Tulsa beat out Texas as the birthplace of the delicacy. Michael Wallis, author of "Route 66, The Mother Road", was quoted by the newspaper as saying that he had discovered Tulsa's place in culinary history, which he made while researching the state’s tastiest hamburgers. He started at the restaurant that has been voted Tulsa's best burger more often than any other restaurant since 1933, Weber’s Root Beer Stand. Wallis’ research revealed that Oscar Weber Bilby was the first person to serve a real hamburger when, on July 4, 1891, ground beef was served on his wife’s homemade buns at a Fourth of July party on his farm, just west of present-day Tulsa. Until then, ground beef had been served in Athens, Texas, on simple slices of bread, known then and presently as a "patty melt". According to the Tulsa-based author, the bun is essential. Therefore, in 1995, Governor Frank Keating cited Athens, Texas' serving of ground beef between two slices of bread as a minor accomplishment. The governor's April 1995 proclamation also cites the first true hamburger on the bun, after meticulous research, was created and consumed in Tulsa in 1891. The Governor's Proclamation cites April 13, 1995, in Tulsa as "The Real Birthplace of the Hamburger." [12]
Burger historian George Motz has cited a Texas newspaper from 1894 as the earliest documented mention of a hamburger to date, which says "Hamburger steak sandwiches every day in the week at Barny's Saloon, Moulton." [13]
The Library of Congress credits Danish immigrant Louis Lassen of Louis' Lunch, a small lunch wagon in New Haven, Connecticut, with selling the first hamburger and steak sandwich in the U.S. in 1895. [14] [15]
The hamburger bun was invented in 1916 by a fry cook named Walter Anderson, who co-founded White Castle in 1921. [16]
The following restaurants have either played a part in the creation of the hamburger sandwich, developed a unique cooking method, or were the first to sell them nationwide:
In the United States, hamburgers may be classified into one of two primary categories: fast food hamburgers or individually prepared burgers made in homes and restaurants. The latter are traditionally prepared "with everything" (or "all the way", "deluxe", "the works", "dragged through the garden", or, in some regions, "all dressed"), which includes lettuce, tomato, onion, and sliced pickles (or pickle relish). Cheese (usually processed cheese slices, but often Cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack, or blue cheese), either melted on the meat patty or crumbled on top, is a popular option. In the Carolinas, a time-honored popular style for hamburgers and hot dogs served in diners and homes (but not fast food chains) is "all the way", meaning mustard, slaw, chili and onions.
Condiments may be added to the hamburger or offered separately on the side. The three most common condiments are mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup. However, salad dressings and barbecue sauce are also popular. McDonald's uses their own "Big Mac sauce" on their signature Big Mac hamburger. Heinz 57 sauce is popular among burger enthusiasts.
Other popular toppings include bacon, avocado or guacamole, sliced sautéed mushrooms, sliced sauce and/or chili (usually without beans). Somewhat less common toppings include fried egg, scrambled egg, feta cheese, salsa, pineapple, Jalapeños and other varieties of chile peppers, anchovies, slices of ham or bologna, pastrami, or teriyaki-seasoned beef, tartar sauce, french fries, onion rings, or potato chips.
Standard toppings on hamburgers may vary depending upon location, particularly at restaurants that are not national or regional franchises. A "Texas burger" uses mustard as the only sauce, and comes with or without vegetables, jalapeno slices, and cheese.[ citation needed ] In New Mexico and parts of the Southwest, green chile burgers are very common. In the Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the patty, or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty. This is called a "Butter Burger". In the Carolinas, a Carolina-style hamburger "with everything" may be served with cheese, chili, onions, mustard, and coleslaw. National hamburger chain Wendy's sells a "Carolina Classic" burger with these toppings in these areas. In Hawaii, hamburgers are often topped with teriyaki sauce, derived from the Japanese-American culture, and locally grown pineapple. In areas of the Midwest and East Coast, a hamburger served with lettuce, tomato, and onion is called a "California burger". This usage is sufficiently widespread to appear on the menus of Dairy Queen. In the Western U.S., a "California" burger often denotes a cheeseburger with guacamole and bacon added. Pastrami burgers are particularly popular in Salt Lake City, Utah. [25]
Hamburgers may be described by their combined uncooked weight. A single, uncooked burger weighing a nominal four ounces or 113.5 grams is a "quarter pounder". Instead of a "double hamburger", one might encounter a third- or half-pounder, weighing eight ounces or 227 grams. Burger patties are nearly always specified in fractions of a pound.
In the continental U.S., it is uncommon to hear of a chicken patty or breast on a hamburger bun referred to as a "chicken burger". This is almost always called a "chicken sandwich," except for rare exceptions, such as with the Red Robin chain of restaurants. In Canada, "chicken burgers" generally refer to patties and, when using a chicken breast, to "chicken sandwiches". In Hawaii, small (usually marinated) pieces of chicken piled on a bun are referred to as a teriyaki chicken burger. This is similar to what is found in Japan, [26] but is a local variation.
A hamburger or simply burger is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis; condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
A cheeseburger is a hamburger with a slice of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, a cheeseburger may include various condiments and other toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, avocado, mushrooms, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's flagship products and signature dishes. The Big Mac contains two beef patties, cheese, shredded lettuce, pickles, minced onions, and a Thousand Island-type dressing advertised as "special sauce", on a three-slice sesame-seed bun.
A patty melt is an American grilled sandwich consisting of a ground beef patty topped with melted cheese and caramelized onions between two slices of griddled seeded-rye bread.
The McChicken is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast food restaurant McDonald's. In some countries, such as Australia, India, New Zealand, and the UK, it is considered to be a chicken burger, especially given it is not a sandwich as that word is understood in some of those non-American varieties of English. It consists of a toasted wheat bun, a breaded patty, shredded lettuce and mayonnaise.
A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutton, beef, or turkey. Schnitzel originates in Austria as wiener schnitzel and is very similar to dishes such as escalope in France and Spain, panado in Portugal, tonkatsu in Japan, cotoletta in Italy, kotlet schabowy in Poland, řízek in Czech Republic, milanesa in Latin America, chuleta valluna in Colombia, chicken chop in Malaysia, and chicken-fried steak and pork tenderloin of the United States.
A slinger is an American Midwest diner specialty typically consisting of two eggs, hash browns, and a ground beef patty, all covered in chili con carne and generously topped with cheese and onions. The eggs can be any style. Hot sauce is usually served on the side. The slinger is considered to be a St. Louis late-night culinary original. It is described as "a hometown culinary invention: a mishmash of meat, hash-fried potatoes, eggs, and chili, sided with your choice of ham, sausage, bacon, hamburger patties, or an entire T-bone steak.
The Big King sandwich is one of the major hamburger products sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King, and was part of its menu for more than twenty years. As of March 2019, it is sold in the United States under its 1997 Big King XL formulation. During its testing phase in 1996–1997, it was originally called the Double Supreme and was configured similarly to the McDonald's Big Mac—including a three-piece roll. It was later reformulated as a more standard double burger during the latter part of product testing in 1997. It was given its current name when the product was formally introduced in September 1997, but maintained the more conventional double cheeseburger format.
A&W is a fast-food restaurant chain in Canada, franchised by A&W Food Services of Canada, Inc.
The BK Stacker sandwiches are a family of cheeseburgers sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King.
Hamburg steak is a patty of ground beef. Made popular worldwide by migrating Germans, it became a mainstream dish around the start of the 19th century. It is related to Salisbury steaks, which also use ground beef. It is considered the origin of the ubiquitous hamburger, when, in the early 20th century, vendors began selling the Hamburg steak as a sandwich between bread.
The Burger King Specialty Sandwiches are a line of sandwiches developed by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King in 1978 and introduced in 1979 as part of a new product line designed to expand Burger King's menu with more sophisticated, adult oriented fare beyond hamburgers. Additionally, the new line was intended to differentiate the company from other fast food hamburger restaurants at the time. Since the line's introduction, the other sandwiches have been discontinued, leaving the chicken offering, the Original Chicken Sandwich, as the primary product left. Additionally, other sandwiches that utilize the same roll as the chicken sandwich have been introduced to the company's menu both domestically and internationally since the original product line was introduced.
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. McDonald's traces its origins to a 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino, California. After expanding within the United States, McDonald's became an international corporation in 1967, when it opened a location in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's restaurants existed in five of the Earth's seven continents; an African location came in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco.
A steak sandwich is a sandwich prepared with steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons, then served on bread or a roll. Steak sandwiches are sometimes served with toppings of cheese, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and in some instances fried eggs, coleslaw, and french fries.
Burger King sliders, comprising several varieties of mini-sandwiches, are a series of sandwiches that have been sold by international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King since the 1980s. Burger Bundles was the first iteration, a set of three small hamburgers or cheeseburgers. These sandwiches were eventually replaced with a reformulated product called Burger Buddies that was sold in pairs. After a change in management in 2004, Burger Buddies were re-released as BK Burger Shots. The company has also sold several chicken and breakfast sandwich versions of these products.
Evidence suggests that either the United States or Germany was the first country where two slices of bread and a ground beef patty were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold. There is some controversy over the origin of the hamburger because its two basic ingredients, bread and beef, had been prepared and consumed separately for many years in both countries before their combination. Shortly after its creation, the hamburger quickly included all of its currently typically characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles.
The Big N’ Tasty is a hamburger sold by the international fast food chain McDonald's. It is designed to compete with the Whopper sandwich. A similar variation called the Big Tasty, without the center "N'", which was first released in Saudi Arabia, is sold outside the United States in parts of Europe, South America, South Africa, The Middle East, and Taiwan.
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