Abby Connolly
Who doesn’t love enjoying a hamburger at a backyard summer barbecue?
Hamburgers have been a beloved food in America for years. Did you know that Americans consume an average of 50 billion burgers annually?
Hamburgers are a versatile food that remains comforting no matter how gourmet they are.
They’ve come a long way since they first became popular in America. If you don’t know already, here’s a brief history of how the hamburger became one of the most famous foods in the States.
The name of the hamburger is inspired by the town of Hamburg, Germany, where ground beef was introduced to them through Russian trading. By the late 1800s, more German immigrants moved to the United States and discovered ground beef’s versatility, making it a popular item in homes and restaurants.
Salisbury Steak patties came before the hamburger and were invented by Doctor James H. Salisbury from New York in 1867. So when exactly did the beef patties meet the bun?
No one can say for sure who the first person was to add a burger patty to a bun and call it a hamburger, but they started appearing in American establishments and fairs in states like New York, Connecticut, and Oklahoma in the last few years of the 19th century.
Then, there was the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, an event that led to many creative food inventions. There, more and more Americans fell in love with the accessibility, ease, and deliciousness of the hamburger.
Fast forward 20 years, and hamburgers were already a go-to food in America. A diner called The Rite Spot in Pasadena, California claimed to have been the first place to serve a cheeseburger when a teenage cook slapped a piece of cheese on a burger patty in 1924.
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