Hamburger

“A burger is a work of art that satisfies both hunger and soul.”

 Julia Child

 

Damnit, Apicius. Sorry if that offends Tilly and Olive’s followers. Let me explain quickly. If any of you want to start your blog on history with a few recipes thrown in, bless you, and we wish you the best of luck. When you research an ingredient or a particular dish, be aware that Apicius just might be there. So who was this person? Caelius Apicius is considered by most historians of the Romans to have written De re culinarian or De re coquinaria, (“On the subject of Cooking”), commonly referred to in English as just “Apicius.” It is believed to have been written in the fifth century CE.

So, in researching hamburgers, Apicius showed up with his recipe for a ground meat dish, “isicia omentata “which is chopped meat wrapped in fat and sautéed in a reduction of grape juice, which I guess is a wine.

Fast-forward to the 13^th century AD, and steak tartare appears—a seasoned ground raw beef patty. Some historians believe this comes from the Mongols, who would put thick slabs of beef under their saddles. After being tenderized from a day of riding, it was eaten raw.

Leaving the 13^th century, let’s travel to London in the mid-1700s and Hannah Glasse. Her cookbook, The Art of Cookery, is published and gives a recipe for sausage using minced beef, suet, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, garlic, vinegar, salt, red wine, and rum to be served on toast. Tilly, this might get someone a bit tipsy.  

Other dishes came out of minced beef, but the one that is still popular today is from Hamburg, Germany. Hamburger Rundstuck is considered by most historians as the precursor to the modern-day hamburger.

Olive: Tilly,  why would “The Oxford English  in 1802, define Hamburger Steak as “a hard slab of salted, minced beef, often slightly smoked, mixed the onions and breadcrumbs”. Why would the OED even care, Tilly?

Tilly: The OED isn’t published ‘to care’ – it collects words and explains their meaning. Hamburger is a word …

In the late 1800s, immigrants were leaving Germany from the port of Hamburg and arriving in New York. Hamburg steak was served between two pieces of bread and eaten by Jewish passengers leaving Hamburg, Germany, for New York. The Hamburg America Line became so well known that the shipping line gave its name to the dish. The Hamburg steak became very popular in New York. The oldest document refers to the Hamburg steak at the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant, which was offered to customers at a costly 11 cents. Some customers considered the price a bit high.

Tilly: Meanwhile in Britain, around the same time, Victorians were eating minced collops, a close cousin to the hamburger.

So what made this item so costly? Hold on to your stomach. Tilly, a fried patty of chopped beef, eggs, onions, and seasoning or lightly salted and smoked or served raw in a dish with onions and breadcrumbs.

Olive: That so turns my stomach.

Tilly: Ooh, Olive, there is nothing like a really good steak tartare … spicy, juicy, mouth pleasing, satisfies the taste buds … and you don’t need one of those appalling buns that invariably envelop burgers. But I must confess, the best burger I have ever eaten was in Kennebunkport, USA, in an Italian restaurant, forgotten the name – it was beyond delicious – charred on the outside, rare in the middle, tender steak, with blue cheese on top and crisp bacon. They looked surprised when I said I didn’t want the bun.

For the next one hundred or so years, the hamburger spread throughout the world, if not the universe. Because the damn hamburger snuck out of the house, the idea of fast food was born. So, a new business is started called the “franchise.”

Tilly: The burger had also become a staple part of British culinary and cultural (cultural – really?) life. Unhappily, for the most part, it was a low-quality fast food: a soggy bun and a skimpy burger.

Happily, in 2001, the British burger was elevated. Three New Zealanders set up Gourmet Burger Kitchen, serving quality burgers made from high-quality meat and ingredients such as pineapple and kiwi fruit. The Byron chain took the burger back to basics a few years later, with simple but high-quality burgers. Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Beer + Burger joined the market more recently, adding vegetarian and vegan options to the menu.

In the United States alone, it is estimated there are 50,000 burger restaurants, and it is considered a 73 billion dollar business. According to market research, the market size reaches 20 million worldwide. So what is the most popular? Hmm, that would be McDonald’s with 40,000 plus worldwide, bringing in 35.8 billion dollars a year.

Tilly: I came across this on Heritage Foods website: ‘The burger represents the complicated, conflicting history of the United States, reflecting the melting pot of cultures that makes up our country. The burger also traces the transformation of American dining. What started out as a premier item at a premier restaurant became a cheap, quick, mass produced meal, intended to feed the working class anywhere, anytime.’

In Britain in 2023, there were 3.6 fast-food burger chain outlets per 100,000 people. That’s a helluva lot of burger joints.

So which country is new to this open market? Well, hello Poland. Polish hamburgers are called Klotlety or Klupshies: I guess it would depend on where in Poland you live.

The patties:

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground beef

1 sleeve of saltine crackers, crushed

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 small yellow onion, minced

1 green bell pepper, minced

1 tablespoon of dried dill

1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter

Mix together and form into patties. Can be used as a traditional sandwich or served in a nice gravy.

Olive: Tilly, what do you think of this recipe? I love it.

Tilly: Sounds tasty – though I’d use fresh garlic and parsley. Why does no one mention Hemingway’s burger? On the original, there are handwritten comments by Hemingway, given below.

Ernest Hemingway’s hamburger recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground lean beef

2 cloves, minced garlic

2 little green onions, finely chopped

1 heaping teaspoon, India relish

2 tablespoons, capers

1 heaping teaspoon, Spice Islands sage

Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning — 1/2 teaspoon

Spice Islands Mei Yen Powder — 1/2 teaspoon

1 egg, beaten in a cup with a fork

About 1/3 cup dry red or white wine

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Instructions:

“Break up the meat with a fork and scatter the garlic, onion and dry seasonings over it, then mix them into the meat with a fork or your fingers. Let the bowl of meat sit out of the icebox for ten or fifteen minutes while you set the table and make the salad. Add the relish, capers, everything else including wine and let the meat sit, quietly marinating, for another ten minutes if possible. Now make your fat, juicy patties with your hands.

 

“The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny. Have the oil in your frying pan hot but not smoking when you drop in the patties and then turn the heat down and fry the burgers about four minutes. Take the pan off the burner and turn the heat high again. Flip the burgers over, put the pan back on the hot fire, then after one minute, turn the heat down again and cook another three minutes. Both sides of the burgers should be crispy brown and the middle pink and juicy.”

Notes: Spice Island stopped making the Mei Yen Powder a number of years ago. This is the recipe:

Mei Yen Powder

9 parts salt

9 parts sugar

2 parts MSG (accent)

If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon Mei Yen Powder, use 2/3 tsp of the dry recipe (above) mixed with 1/8 tsp of soy sauce.

 

In closing, if you are tired of plain beef or whatever ground meat you use…well, use your favorite spice blend, meatloaf, taco, chili, Italian, etc. Blend into the meat and form your patties and fry… use as a sandwich, which I do, or in a gravy, with mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice on the side.

‘In my opinion, it has never been proven that food even has calories. When I bite into a hamburger, I see pickle and ketchup and bun and meat, but if there’s a calorie in there, it must be hidden.’ 

-W. Bruce Cameron

 

Olive and Tilly