Hamburgers have dominated the world. This is a known fact. I have eaten burgers everywhere from Washington D.C. to Buffalo, New York and even Naples, Italy. And as a matter of fact, even Hamburg, Germany. The origins of Hamburgers wildly debated. Many say it was invented in the United States, even though the word itself may lead to other conclusions. Before getting into the brutal details, I have to share where I have eaten my best burger: in Merano, Italy. This seems controversial, but the texture, juiciness, and quality of the meat all give it a solid 5/5 stars. As you can see, burgers are not solely American, or even German at that, they are international, and have to be judged from that point of view.
The Origins of Hambugers
One could argue that the concept hamburger has existed for millennia; because what is a hamburger essentially? It is meat on bread with toppings. So as long as there’s been bread and meat, there’s been hamburgers. No one denies that ancient cultures, such as Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt, herded cattle, and there is clear evidence that they also had bread. From ancient Rome to the grasslands of Mongolia, everywhere there’s accounts of patties on bread. This pattern carries and develops through history. For instance, in France nowadays you find the famous Steak Tartare, a raw beef patty often served with fries. Similarities also exist between the Turkish kebab and Mexican tacos: they also are meat in or on bread. Ground meat, used all throughout year with some type of bread, was hence also used in Germany, or more precisely, Hamburg, the large port city a long the Elbe. Here you could, and still can find the combination of either ground raw meat or steak on a typical German “Broetchen”. The former is called “Mett Brot” and the latter “Rundstuek Warm”. These already closely resemble the modern day hamburger, still missing the infamous toppings of ketchup, cheese, mustard and tomatoes. So while the origin of modern hamburgers, as the name so helpfully suggests, is easily traceable to Germany, the burger that we know today was perfected in the USA.
Modern History
Due to political problems in Germany two centuries ago, many immigrants parted for America. With them, the quality and tradition of German meats also came to the USA. Going through multiple changes and increasing continuously in popularity, it became a street food staple in many cities the USA, such as NYC or St. Louis, all of which claim to have invented the burger. But the breakthrough for hamburgers came with fast-food. From the first White Castle restaurants in Kansas in the 1920’s, many now well known fast-food chains followed in their footsteps: and brought the hamburger to the world. The spread of the hamburger is closely linked to the spread of fast-food, all the excess, waste, low quality, and unhealthiness included. The convenience of fast food (hamburgers included) has been linked to obesity and a loss of food traditions in the USA and elsewhere. So while the occasional, high quality burger will do you no harm, one should not overdo the desire for the greasy, cheesy, protein and fat packed fun. Even the most perfect of foods should not be abused.
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