Читать книгу All about the Burger - Sef Gonzalez - Страница 11

There is no set-in-stone, 100 percent accurate history of how the hamburger came to be in the United States. It is believed, however, that its origins go back to the Mongols, who would ride with minced meat stored under their horse saddles. The theory was that the meat (mutton) would be tenderized during their long rides. After the Mongols invaded Russia in the 1200s, bringing their minced meat with them, the Russians adopted it and made it a part of their cuisine as “steak tartare.”

During the fifteenth century, steak tartare was introduced to the Germans, who would eventually shape and refine the delicacy. The dish made its way to New York in the nineteenth century from the port of Hamburg, Germany, and then became known as Hamburg Steak. By the way, Hamburger in German means “from Hamburg,” just as Frankfurter means “from Frankfurt.”

It began popping up on US menus, but the first recorded use of the term “Hamburg Steak” didn’t happen until the 1880s. In 1887, the Chicago Tribune mentioned that Hamburg Steak was “made by chopping any lean piece of beef and cooking it with onions or garlic.” The first time the word “Hamburger” made an appearance was in the Walla Walla Union, a newspaper in the state of Washington, in an article on January 5, 1889.

I thought you might get a kick out of some of the quotes I found with the word hamburger in them.