PROJECT 2
TOPIC: FAST FOOD
SUB TOPIC: HAMBURGERS
GRADE 7
WORKED BY GROUP 2
INFORMATION
A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of
fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed
inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served
with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis
with 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.[1] Under some definitions, and in
some cultures, a burger is considered a sandwich.
Hamburgers are typically associated with fast-food
restaurants and diners but are also sold at various other
restaurants, including more expensive high-end
establishments. There are many international and
regional variations of hamburgers. Some of the largest
multinational fast-food chains have a burger as one of their
core products: McDonald's Big Mac and Burger
King's Whopper have become global icons of American
culture.[2][3]
Etymology and terminology
The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, the
second-largest city in Germany; however, there is no specific
connection between the dish and the city.[4]
By linguistic rebracketing, the term "burger" eventually
became a self-standing word that is associated with many
different types of sandwiches that are similar to a hamburger,
but contain different meats such as buffalo in the buffalo
burger, venison, kangaroo, chicken, turkey, elk, lamb or fish s
uch as salmon in the salmon burger, and even with meatless
sandwiches as is the case of the veggie burger.[5]
The term burger can also be applied to a meat patty on its
own. Since the term hamburger usually implies beef, for
clarity burger may be prefixed with the type of meat or meat
substitute used, as in beef
burger, turkey burger, bison burger, or portobello burger. In
most English-speaking countries, including the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, a
piece of chicken breast in a bun is a chicken burger.
Americans would call this a chicken sandwich because the
meat is not ground, whereas in other countries, anything with
a bun is considered a burger and a sandwich has sliced
bread.[6][7][8]
History
Main articles: History of the hamburger and History of the
hamburger in the United States
Hamburg steak has been known as "Frikadelle" in Germany
since the 17th century. The "Hamburger Rundstück" was
popular already in 1869 and is believed to be a precursor to the modern Hamburger.
Cheeseburger (with onions and tomatoes) at Louis' Lunch,
New Haven, Connecticut
Versions of the meal have been served for over a century, but
its origins still need to be discovered.[9] The 1758 edition of the
book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah
Glasse included a recipe called "Hamburgh sausage",
suggesting that it should be served "roasted with toasted
bread under it." A similar snack was also popular in Hamburg
under the name of "Rundstück warm" ("bread roll warm") in
1869 or earlier,[10] and was supposedly eaten by emigrants on
their way to America. However, this may have contained
roasted beefsteak rather than Frikadelle. It has alternatively
been suggested that Hamburg steak served between two
pieces of bread and eaten by Jewish passengers travelling
from Hamburg to New York on Hamburg America
Line vessels (which began operations in 1847) became so
well known that the shipping company gave its name to the
dish.[11] It is not known which of these stories actually marks
the invention of the hamburger and explains the name.
There is a reference to a "Hamburg steak" as early as 1884
in The Boston Journal.[OED, under "steak"] On July 5, 1896,
the Chicago Daily Tribune made a highly specific claim
regarding a "hamburger sandwich" in an article about a
"Sandwich Car": "A distinguished favorite, only five cents, is
Hamburger steak sandwich, the meat for which is kept ready
in small patties and 'cooked while you wait' on the gasoline
range."[12]
Claims of invention
The hamburger's origin is unclear, though "hamburger steak
sandwiches" have been advertised in U.S. newspapers from
New York to Hawaii since at least the 1890s.[13] The invention
of hamburgers is commonly attributed to various people,
including Charlie Nagreen, Frank and Charles Menches,
Oscar Weber Bilby, Fletcher Davis, or Louis Lassen.[14]
[15]
White Castle traces the origin of the hamburger to
Hamburg, Germany, with its invention by Otto Krause.
[16]
Some have pointed to a recipe for "Hamburgh sausages"
on toasted bread, published in The Art of Cookery Made Plain
and Easy by Hannah Glasse in 1758.[13] Hamburgers gained
national recognition in the U.S. at the 1904 St. Louis World's
Fair when the New York Tribune referred to the hamburger as
"the innovation of a food vendor on the pike."[15] No conclusive
argument has ended the dispute over invention. An article
from ABC News sums up: "One problem is that there is little
written history. Another issue is that the burger spread
happened largely at the World's Fair, from tiny vendors that
came and went instantly. And it is entirely possible that more
than one person came up with the idea at the same time in
different parts of the country."[17]
Louis Lassen
Although debunked by The Washington Post,[13] a popular
myth recorded by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa
DeLauro stated the first hamburger served in America was by
Louis Lassen, a Danish immigrant, after he opened Louis'
Lunch in New Haven in 1895.[18] Louis' Lunch, a small lunch
wagon in New Haven, Connecticut, is said to have sold the
first hamburger and steak sandwich in the U.S. in 1900.[19][20]
[21]
New York Magazine states that "The dish actually had no
name until some rowdy sailors from Hamburg named the
meat on a bun after themselves years later", also noting that
this claim is subject to dispute.[22] A customer ordered a quick
hot meal and Louis was out of steaks. Taking ground beef
trimmings, Louis made a patty and grilled it, putting it between
two slices of toast.[15] Some critics such as Josh Ozersky, a
food editor for New York Magazine, claim that this sandwich
was not a hamburger because the bread was toasted.[23]
Charlie Nagreen
One of the earliest claims comes from Charlie Nagreen, who
in 1885 sold a meatball between two slices of bread at the
Seymour Fair[24] now sometimes called the Outagamie County
Fair.[23] The Seymour Community Historical Society
of Seymour, Wisconsin, credits Nagreen, now known as
"Hamburger Charlie", with the invention. Nagreen was 15
when he reportedly sold pork sandwiches at the 1885
Seymour Fair so customers could eat while walking. The
Historical Society explains that Nagreen named the
hamburger after the Hamburg steak with which local German
immigrants were familiar.[25][26]
Otto Kuase
According to White Castle, Otto Kuase was the inventor of the
hamburger. In 1891, he created a beef patty cooked in butter
and topped with a fried egg. German sailors later omitted the
fried egg.[15]
Oscar Weber Bilby
The family of Oscar Weber Bilby claims the first-known
hamburger on a bun was served on July 4, 1891, on Grandpa
Oscar's farm. The bun was a yeast bun.[27][28][29] In 1995,
Governor Frank Keating proclaimed that the first true
hamburger on a bun was created and consumed in Tulsa,
Oklahoma in 1891, calling Tulsa, "The Real Birthplace of the
Hamburger".[30]
Frank and Charles Menches
A bacon cheeseburger, from a New York City diner
Frank and Charles Menches claim to have sold a ground beef
sandwich at the Erie County Fair in 1885 in Hamburg, New
York.[23] During the fair, they ran out of pork sausage for their
sandwiches and substituted beef.[24] The brothers exhausted
their supply of sausage, so they purchased chopped-up beef
from a butcher, Andrew Klein. Historian Joseph Streamer
wrote that the meat was from Stein's market, not Klein's,
despite Stein's having sold the market in 1874.[24] The story
notes that the name of the hamburger comes from Hamburg,
New York, not Hamburg, Germany.[24] Frank Menches's
obituary in The New York Times states that these events took
place at the 1892 Summit County Fair in Akron, Ohio.[31]
Fletcher Davis
Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas claimed to have invented the
hamburger. According to oral histories, in the 1880s, he
opened a lunch counter in Athens and served a 'burger' of
fried ground beef patties with mustard and Bermuda onion
between two slices of bread, with a pickle on the side.[15] The
story is that in 1904, Davis and his wife Ciddy ran a sandwich
stand at the St. Louis World's Fair.[15] Historian Frank X.
Tolbert noted that Athens resident Clint Murchison said his
grandfather dated the hamburger to the 1880s with Fletcher
"Old Dave" Davis.[24] A photo of "Old Dave's Hamburger
Stand" from 1904 was sent to Tolbert as evidence of the
claim.[24]
Other hamburger-steak claims
Various non-specific claims of the invention relate to the term
"hamburger steak" without mention of its being a sandwich.
The first printed American menu listing hamburgers is an
1834 menu from Delmonico's in New York.[32] However, the
printer of the original menu was not in business in 1834.[29] In
1889, a menu from Walla Walla Union in Washington offered
hamburger steak as a menu item.[15]
Between 1871 and 1884, "Hamburg Beefsteak" was on the
"Breakfast and Supper Menu" of the Clipper Restaurant at
311/313 Pacific Street in San Fernando, California. It cost 10
cents—the same price as mutton chops, pig's feet in batter,
and stewed veal. It was not, however, on the dinner menu.
Only "Pig's Head", "Calf Tongue", and "Stewed Kidneys" were
listed.[33] Another claim ties the hamburger to Summit County,
New York, or Ohio. Summit County, Ohio, exists, but Summit
County, New York, does not.[24]
Early major vendors
See also: History of White Castle and History of McDonald's
McDonald's Big Mac
1921: White Castle, Wichita, Kansas. Due to widespread
anti-German sentiment in the U.S. during World War I, an
alternative name for hamburgers was Salisbury steak.
Following the war, hamburgers became unpopular until the
White Castle restaurant chain marketed and sold large
numbers of small 65 mm (2+1⁄2 in) square hamburgers,
known as sliders.[citation needed] They created five holes in each
patty, which helped them cook evenly and eliminated the
need to flip the burger. In 1995, White Castle began selling
frozen hamburgers in convenience stores and vending
machines.[34]
1923: Kewpee Hamburgers, or Kewpee Hotels, Flint,
Michigan. Kewpee was the second hamburger chain and
peaked at 400 locations before World War II. Many of these
were licensed but not strictly franchised. Many closed
during WWII. Between 1955 and 1967, another wave of
restaurants closed or changed names. In 1967, the
Kewpee licensor moved the company to a franchise
system. Currently, only five locations exist.
1926: White Tower Hamburgers
1927: Little Tavern
1930s: White Castle (II; run by Henry Cassada)
1931: Krystal[35]
1936: Big Boy. In 1937, Bob Wian created the double-deck
hamburger at his stand in Glendale, California. Big Boy
would become the name of the hamburger, mascot, and
restaurant. Big Boy expanded nationally through regional
franchising and subfranchising. Primarily operating as
drive-in restaurants in the 1950s, interior dining gradually
replaced curb service by the early 1970s. Many franchises
have closed or operated independently, but the Big Boy
double-deck hamburger remains the signature item at the
remaining American restaurants.
1940: McDonald's restaurant, San Bernardino, California,
was opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald. Their
introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948
established the principles of the modern fast-food
restaurant. The McDonald brothers began franchising in
1953. In 1961, Ray Kroc (the supplier of their multi-mixer
milkshake machines) purchased the company from the
brothers for $2.7 million and a 1.9% royalty.[36]
