Bottom Of The Barrel

Hamburger: The Beginnings

Recently there has been increased tension between the states of Connecticut and Texas over the birthplace of the hamburger. Louis' Lunch of New Haven, Connecticut claims to have invented the hamburger when they invented the quick businessman's meal which consisted of a broiled beef patty between two pieces of white toast for a busy office worker in 1900. McDonald's historians have researched the problem and claim the inventor was an unknown food vendor at the St. Louis Fair in 1904." This food vendor is most likely Fletcher Davis (1864-1941), also known as "Old Dave" or "Uncle Fletch". Fletcher operated a café at 115 Tyler Street on the north side of the courthouse square in Athens, Texas in the late 1880s.

Two other locations are staking some claim to the origin's of the modern hamburger. Hamburg, New York, also claims credit for the invention of the hamburger. This village celebrates a "Burgerfest" every summer, held to mark the anniversary of the hamburger's creation at the Erie County Fair in 1885 by the Menches brothers. The other claim comes from Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin. In 1885, he tried selling fried meatballs at the Outagamie County fair, but customers found them hard to eat while walking around the fair, so Nagreen flattened it and made it into a sandwich he called the "hamburger".

The word "Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, Germany when it was common to put a piece of roast pork into a roll, called Rundstück warm. The origin of the modern hamburger is theorized to be based on the meatscraps, similar to modern ground beef that were served on a Brötchen - a round bun-shaped piece of bread. It is said that German immigrants then took the Hamburger to the United States, where the bun was added, creating the modern Hamburger.

If one was to base the description of a hamburger on ground beef on a bun, as the German's did, then maybe the invention of the modern bun could be the true origin of our beloved hamburger. The hamburger bun is said to have been invented in 1916 by Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, who went on to co-found White Castle in 1921.

Well to who ever invented the hamburger, I say thank you [and don't forget the French Fries whose history is about as clear as the hamburger].

Labels: Food

posted by TheWino @ 8:21 AM