Burgers were said to be invented in Hamburg, Germany, or to be more precise the meat that would become the hamburger was. Ground beef used to be considered a waste product, the leftovers of the prime cuts that were then sold off on the cheap.
We have Genghis Khan and his conquering hordes of horsemen to thank for the simple hamburger. While his troops were riding to battle, they would keep scraps of lamb or mutton, formed into patties, under their saddles to tenderize the meat. When they stopped to make camp, the horsemen would cook the patties over open flames or eat them raw. The dish was taken to Russia, where it became “steak tartare.”
- From Russia, the dish made its way to Germany, where pork or beef was used in the patties. Then the burger found its way to America via the crew and immigrant passengers of the German Hamburg-Amerika shipping line. On board, the passengers ate a dish of ground meat that was spiced and stretched out with onions and breadcrumbs.
- The average American consumes about 30 pounds of hamburgers a year.
- More than seven of every ten burgers (73% or 9.6 billion) consumed in the U.S. were prepared and purchased out of the home.
- McDonalds sells 75 hamburgers every second.
- The Hamburger Hall of Fame is located in Seymour, Wis.
- It’s believed the burger was invented in 1900 in New Haven, Connecticut. Louis Lassen, owner of Louis Lunch café, offered a ground beef sandwich to a worker. It was the first known burger. Louis Lunch exists even today but their specialty is that they offer only three condiments – onions, tomatoes and cheese spread. Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup are strictly forbidden and if someone is caught smuggling in any forbidden condiment into the cafe, he or she is politely asked to leave the place!
- The first restaurant chain to serve the burger was White Castle in Wichita, Kansas
- Hamburger (ground beef patty) is the most popular food for the grill, followed by steak and chicken.
- In ‘n’ Out Burger used to let customers add as many extra patties with cheese as they wanted to their burgers until one group of 8 ordered one burger with 100 patties, which contained 19,450 kcals
- In 2009, Burger King launched a campaign that if you unfriended 10 friends on Facebook, you were entitled to a free whopper. The ex-friend would then receive a message explaining that their friendship was less valuable than a whopper.
- In 1968 in Mattoon, Illinois, a small restaurant called “Burger King” won a lawsuit against the giant fast food chain of the same name because they had trademarked the name first. Today, there are no Burger Kings joints legally allowed within 20 miles of this restaurant. – Source
- Pizza Hut in the Middle East sells a cheeseburger crust pizza
- During World War 1, the United States Government tried to rename hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” to promote patriotism
- Burger King released a meat-scented cologne in 2008 called “Flame.”
- If all Hamburgers eaten by Americans in a year are arranged in a straight line, it would circle our Earth 32 times or more!
- 60% of sandwiches sold globally are actually burgers.
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