Historical burgers you probably didn’t know (bonus ancient recipes)
No, we don’t mean years-old McDonald’s burgers — though that did happen. In the lead-up to our Great Burger Festival, we found a few interesting facts about the burger and realised that it’s older — and more widespread — than we’d realised.
That’s thanks to the efforts of “hamburger historians” — way up there on our dream jobs list. Turns out the burger was around before you were: who knew it was such a hipster?
The Romans got there first — and there’s proof
Food historians point to a recipe for a minced-meat patty that comes from a 1,500-year-old cookbook, Apicius. Back in the day, they called it “Isicia Omentata,” and the recipe went thus:
Isicia Omentata
Finely cut pulp of pork is ground with the hearts of winter wheat and diluted with wine. Flavor lightly with pepper and broth and if you like add a moderate quantity of myrtle berries also crushed, and after you have added crushed nuts and pepper shape the forcemeat into small rolls, wrap these in caul, fry, and serve with wine gravy.
(source)
The food of warriors
The burger today is most closely associated with the United States of America, but its roots are all over the place. Another origin story has it that warriors for Genghis Khan’s Mongol Army were too busy fighting to do silly things like stop and eat. So they’d carry patties of meat under their saddles, which would be tenderised by the constant movement.
Cut to: the 19th century
Minced or chopped beef, a popular dish in Hamburg, began to be termed the Hamburg Steak. German immigrants leaving for the States took the recipe with them. As early as 1837, the “Hamburg Steak” had begun to appear on menus, such as on New York’s Delmonico’s.
Food historian Tori Vey notes that the Hamburg steak was published in cookbooks such as the 1884 Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book:
“Hamburgh Steak. — Pound a slice of round steak enough to break the fibre. Fry two or three onions, minced fine, in butter until slightly browned. Spread the onions over the meat, fold the ends of the meat together, and pound again, to keep the onions in the middle. Broil two or three minutes. Spread with butter, salt and pepper.”
A fair-y tale, enshrined in the law
The story goes that Charlie Nagreen, a 15-year-old vendor of meatballs at a Wisconsin fair, had a brainwave: why not sandwich the meatball between slices of bread? This would make it easier for fairgoers to eat while walking. Seymour, Wisconsin, the town where it all went down, even has a statue now of “Hamburger Charlie,” as he came to be called. The Wisconsin legislature even passed a declaration stating that Seymour, Wisconsin was the home of the hamburger.
The rest, as they say, is history: the McDonald brothers opened in the United States in 1940; the first Big Mac made an appearance in 1968; veggie burgers (real meatless patties, not just meat burgers topped with veggies) began to appear in the early 80s, hot on the heels of the hippy years.
Speaking of veggie…
In 2009, animal advocacy group PETA offered the town of Hamburg, New York $15,000 in meatless patties to change their name to Veggieburg. (It didn’t go through).
Now, if you’ll excuse us
We’re craving a BBQ Chicken Burger. Off we go!
