A hamburger, often known as a burger, consists of fillings—usually a patty of panfried or grilled ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun, sesame seed bun, or bread roll. These patties are often served with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis, together in the bun or roll. The filling of the burger can be topped with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing. A burger with the patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger, in which case "hamburger" often refers to a burger without cheese. Under some definitions, a hamburger is considered a sandwich. Hamburgers are commonly prepared at home and typically associated with fast-food restaurants but are also sold at other restaurants, including high-end establishments. There are many international and regional variations of hamburgers. Some of the largest multinational fast-food chains feature burgers as one of their core products: McDonald's Big Mac and Burger King's Whopper have become global icons of American culture. Hamburgers are staples of fast food and are usually served with a side of french fries.
Etymology and terminology The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, Germany. However, it is contentious what the exact connection between the food item and the city is. 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 such as salmon in the salmon burger, and even with meatless sandwiches as is the case of the veggie burger. 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.
History
Versions of the meal have been served for over a century, but its origins are still unclear. 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, 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. It is not known which of these stories is the reason hamburgers got their 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."
Claims of invention "Hamburger steak sandwiches" have been advertised in U.S. newspapers from New York to Hawaii since at least the 1890s, but the inventor is unclear. The invention of hamburgers is attributed to various people, including Charlie Nagreen, Frank and Charles Menches, Oscar Weber Bilby, Fletcher Davis, and Louis Lassen. White Castle traces the origin of the hamburger to Otto Krause in Hamburg, Germany. 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, as a notable first source of the dish. 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." 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."
Louis Lassen The restaurant Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, founded in 1895, has long claimed to be the "birthplace of the hamburger sandwich". Ostensibly, around 1900, Danish immigrant Louis Lassen found himself out of steaks when a customer ordered a quick hot meal. Taking ground beef trimmings, Louis made a patty and grilled it, putting it between two slices of toast. (Some critics, such as New York Magazine food editor Joshua Ozersky, claim that this sandwich was not a hamburger because the bread was toasted.) New York Magazine wrote in 1977 that, supposedly, "The dish actually had no name until some rowdy sailors from Hamburg named the meat on a bun after themselves years later". This origin story has been amplified by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and the Library of Congress—notwithstanding earlier references to hamburgers elsewhere in the country.
Charlie Nagreen One of the earliest claims of hamburger invention comes from Charlie Nagreen, who in 1885 sold a meatball between two slices of bread at the Seymour Fair now sometimes called the Outagamie County Fair. The Seymour Community Historical Society of Seymour, Wisconsin, credits Nagreen, also referred to 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.
Otto Krause According to White Castle, Otto Krause 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.
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