Posted May 28, 2015
Today we celebrate a classic sandwich. Most commonly a ground beef patty on a bun, with varying condiments and trimmings, we recognize as hamburgers sandwiches that use a variety of other meat patties and veggie patties, as well.
The term hamburger comes from Germany's second largest city, Hamburg, just as frankfurter comes from the name Frankfurt, Germany, and wiener comes from Vienna (Wien), Austria.
We don't know exactly when and where the hamburger was invented. There have been many claims and not much written or printed evidence to back those claims. It is possible that more than one person came up with the idea of serving a patty made of ground beef between two slices of bread, independently.
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| This ridiculous large burger is a 4x4, animal style, from In 'n' Out. |
We do know that hamburgers gained national recognition in the United States at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. In 1921, White Castle sold a large number of hamburgers in Kansas; in 1923 Kewpee began selling them in Michigan; a few other restaurants began to sell hamburgers in the late 20s and early 30s, and in 1940, the first McDonald's opened in California.
And now hamburgers are seen as a quintessential American sandwich, despite their tie to Germany and their worldwide availability.
Here are some fun facts:
- McDonald's restaurants are found in 118 countries and territories around the world, with more than 35 thousand restaurants and serving more than 68 million customers A DAY!
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| Apparently, McDonald's isn't a big presence in Africa...yet! |
- In 2001, burgers account for 40% of all sandwiches sold, and hamburgers and cheeseburgers make up 71% of all beef servings sold in commercial restaurants!
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| I don't have any idea of how many "Cheeseburger Crust" pizzas Pizza Hut sold. My guess: it didn't catch on! |
- The world's largest hamburger was prepared in Minnesota in 2012. It weighed 2,014 lb (913.54 kg) and was topped with more than 52 pounds of tomatoes, 50 pounds of lettuce, 60 pounds of onions, 19 pounds of pickles, 40 pounds of cheese, and even 16 pounds of bacon!
(No word on how much mayo, catsup, and mustard went onto the giant burger.)
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| This burger is "only" a couple of hundred pounds - nowhere near the largest in the world!! |
It's easy to celebrate National Hamburger Day! Eat some burgers!
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| My favorite hamburger is the Fig-Marmalade burger at Eureka Burger... yummm! |
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