National Hamburger Day is observed each year on May 28. This day celebrates a summer-time grilling favorite and National Hamburger Day is part of National Hamburger Month.
Hamburger is often seasoned ground beef, grilled and placed between two slices of bread or a bun. Top with sauteed onions, peppers, pickles, sliced onions, or cheese. Add condiments such as ketchup, mustard or mayo. Any one of these combinations would create a modern American version a hamburger.
It is most likely that the hamburger sandwich first appeared in the 19th or early 20th centuries, but there is much controversy over its origin. Over the years, the hamburger has become a culinary icon in the United States.
The world’s largest hamburger was prepared on September 2, 2012, in Carlton, Minnesota by Black Bear Casino Resort and weighed in at 2,014 pounds.
Fun Facts
- Hamburgers got their name from Hamburg, Germany where a cut of beef called the Hamburg steak is from. This evolved into what we now know as the hamburger.
- During WWI, the US Gov’t tried to rename hamburgers as ‘liberty sandwiches.’
- In 1921, Walter A Anderson (a short order cook) and E.W. Ingram (an insurance exec) founded White Castle, the oldest burger chain, in Wichita, Kansas. Their first burger sold for a nickel.
- The Big Mac was introduced in 1968 and sold for 49 cents
- Americans consume 13 billion hamburgers a year, enough to circle the earth 32 times.
- Black Bear Resort Casino, located in Minnesota, holds the world record for the biggest burger. It weighs in at 2,014 pounds and is 10 ft in diameter.
- PETA once offered the town of Hamburg, NY $15,000 to change their name to Veggieburg.
- The NYC Food Truck 666 Burger offers a $666 burger coined the “Douche Burger.” It’s made with a Kobe beef patty (wrapped in gold leaf), foie gras, caviar, lobster, truffles, imported ages, gruyere cheese (melted in champagne steam) kopi luwak bbq sauce and himalayan rock salt.
- On average, Americans eat 3 hamburgers a week.
- The Hamburger Hall of Fame is located in Seymour, WI.
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