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HAMBURGERS – Fables and Facts
By Kathy Harlan
Some days I crave a great everyday hamburger. Not those thin, greasy things you get at some drive-through windows. Not the ground sirloin given fancy names and served at pretentious cafes. Not the steak tartare beautifully presented at the finest establishments. I want a burger with just enough fat to make it juicy, enough seasoning to lift it above the mundane, condiments that work together, and a soft but firm toasted bun.
An unofficial survey of people in Clear Lake reveals a wide range of “favorite hamburgers.” They serve other things, but the reason to go to Tookies in Seabrook is the 99, the Ice House Special, or one of their other creative ground meat creations. Miller’s serves a burger so thick and juicy you have to eat it with a fork. The Benson Burger at the Seabrook Classic Café is a choice of many who like jalapenos and horseradish – together. South Shore Beer Garden and Carlos Beer Garden in Webster get raves from those who enjoy good hamburgers in a funky atmosphere. Fuddruckers burgers are huge and lean and you choose your own fixings from a colorful buffet that includes warm cheese sauce. Rocket City Grill offers a terrific grilled burger lunch special. At least ten other establishments were recommended in my quest for a great local hamburger.
The truth is: there is no “best hamburger.”
Every year Americans consume about 14 billion burgers of various configurations. They are an integral part of this country’s culinary culture, supporting the meat and grain industries and giving most teenagers their first jobs.
Genghis Khan and his fierce Mongols (12th century) needed food that could be carried on their horses and eaten while riding. They formed scrapings of lamb or mutton into small patties and placed them under their saddles. Days of riding “tenderized” the patties, which were eaten raw. (Those Mongols were tough.)
Hamburg, Germany was an important trade center in the Middle Ages, and the Germans learned about the rough patties from foreign travelers. They developed Hamburg Steak, shredded low-grade beef with spices, and ate them both cooked and raw. German immigrants brought the Hamburg Steak, often served with white bread, to the United States in the early 1800s.
The invention of the meat chopper in the 19th century made modern hamburgers possible. But it was up to Americans to create the phenomenon that defines our country to diners all over the world. Several American communities claim to be the “home” of the first hamburger.
Seymore, Wisconsin, home of the Hamburger Hall of Fame, puts in a strong claim. "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen was a teenage vendor at a local fair in 1885 when he realized that fairgoers on the move would have an easier time eating his meatballs if he put them between the two slices of bread. Charlie sold hamburgers at the fair until 1951 and entertained his customers with a guitar and mouth organ and the jingle:
Hamburgers, hamburgers, hamburgers hot;
onions in the middle, pickle on the top;
make your lips go flippety flop.
The residents of Seymore hold the record for making the largest hamburger – a gargantuan 8,000 plus pounds!
Louis Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut puts in a strong claim for being the hamburger’s home, and it has a reference in the Library of Congress to back it up.
Fletcher Davis traveled from Athens, Texas to St. Louis to operate a booth at the 1904 World’s Fair. He began selling beef patties with a thick slice of onion between white bread slices and was an instant success. When he went back home after the fair, he discovered that competitors had copied his idea and set up “hamburger” shops. Davis went back to making pottery, never dreaming about his place in history.
In November of 2006, Rep. Betty Brown introduced a resolution into the Texas Legislature proclaiming that Athens, Texas was the Original Home of the Hamburger. Of course, Athens also claims to be the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World, proving you can claim just about anything and get the Texas Legislature to endorse it unless it is school finance reform.
The governor of Oklahoma claimed that “scurrilous rumors have credited Athens, Texas as the birthplace of the hamburger,” but “the region south of the Red River commonly known as Baja Oklahoma is claiming a fame hardly its due.” It is the bun surrounding the patty that made the first real hamburger, he claimed. Oscar Weber Bilby is generally credited with putting beef patties on yeast buns, made by his wife Fannie, for picnics in the Oklahoma Territory.
The growing automobile culture of 20th century America led to the hamburger chain. White Castle opened a stand in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, and by 1930 it boasted over 100 outlets selling the same hamburgers. The patties (or slyders as they were called) were square and small (18 patties from a pound of ground beef) and sold for five cents each.
Southern California-based In-N-Out Burgers began operations in 1948, and the brilliant idea of ordering through a speaker box and driving on through, combined with their popular burgers, made them an instant hit. Many Californians I know still consider In-N-Outs their favorite fast food.
But it was the McDonald Brothers, Richard and Maurice, who elevated the concept of hamburger chains. They opened their first hamburger shop in 1948 featuring an assembly line that resulted in fast and inexpensive service. In 1954 they agreed to let Roy Kroc franchise the restaurants, and ten years later their empire included 657 outlets across the country. As of December 2006, McDonald’s empire included 30,000 restaurants in 100 countries – quite a ride for “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun.”
In 1963 in Washington D.C., a young man invited me on a date to the new local drive-through called McDonald’s that featured 14 cent burgers and advertised “thousands sold.” In spite of that, I married him and we ate enough Big Macs when our children were small that I hope never to do it again.
There is a wealth of restaurants the world over with wonderfully juicy, uniquely seasoned burgers to choose from. But perhaps the best are hot off the backyard grill, charred on the outside, pink inside, with cheese, lettuce, tomato and an avocado on a toasted bun. That is my version of (excuse me Jimmy Buffet) a “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”
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