In honour of National hamburger day, Forkful dive into the contentious history of the invention of the hamburger.
In the 18th century Hamburg, the ports were a popular destination for those emigrating to New York City. Earlier in the century, Hamburg had seen the rise of the Hamburg Steak, a dish that became popular in New York City. The dish was made up of a patty of beef, eggs, and onion.
The history of the Hamburger, however, is widely believed to have originated in Texas, by a small town cook called Fletcher Davis who put the Hamburg Steak in between two slices of bread.
Alternatively, Louis Lassen of Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut claimed his restaurant was the birthplace of the hamburger. The story goes that Lassen, a Danish immigrant, had found himself out of steaks when a customer ordered a hot meal. Taking some ground beef, Louis moulded a patty to serve in a sandwich to serve to the customer. One reason this account of hamburger history is discredited is because the sandwich was served in toasted bread, which is not common for a hamburger.
Charlie Nagreen is another who claimed to be the creator of the hamburger. As a teenager in Wisconsin, he decided to attend the summer fair to sell meatballs. While they didn’t do so well, he adapted the product, and served them sandwiched in between bread- thus inventing the hamburger.
As far as claims that lie outside of the United States, some people believe it was the restaurant in Hamburg that Otto Kuasw worked at in 1891 that invented the hamburger. His version was a beef sausage fried in batter and served with buttered bread and a fried egg. Known as the Deutsches beefsteak, it was a popular snack among sailors off to New York. Once they reached New York, they told them of the sandwich, and the food spread to America.
You can read more about the history of food such as meat, bread, tacos and biscuits by clicking these links
