I’m ashamed to say that I discovered something the other day that I really should have known before….. the origin of the humble hamburger. I heard somebody asking “shouldn’t a hamburger be made out of ham (as the name would imply), rather than beef?” An obvious question perhaps, but one to which I did not know the answer. Being the foodie that I am, I thought that I should really know, so I decided to look it up. I was shocked by what I found!

Although the origin of the hamburger that we know today is still disputed (no, it wasn’t invented by Ronald McDonald), it seems likely that the name at least came from the minced ‘Hamburg’ steak eaten by German immigrants in New York towards the end of the 19th century. At that time the concept of mincing any type of meat was not common, but may have been introduced into Germany by the Russians who arrived in the country with their recipe for steak tartare. The common link that brought all these elements together was shipping – the Russians frequently traded with Hamburg, and Hamburg served as a major hub for Northern European emigrants to the United States. This probably explains how the original recipe found its way across the Atlantic, but the final step of putting the Hamburg steak between slices of bread, creating the Hamburg sandwich, is still disputed to this day.

Following this revelation there are absolutely no prizes for guessing the origin of the Frankfurter sausage (hot-dog). Yep, of course, it was invented by Mr Gray, the Papaya King!….. That’s a lie – the humble pork sausage in bread comes from Frankfurt, where centuries ago it was served as a delicacy at Imperial Coronations. (By the way, the expression ‘wiener’ refers to the Austrian capital Vienna, whose German name is ‘Wien’, home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef).

For those who don’t understand my previous reference, Gray’s Papaya is a very famous hot dog ‘restaurant’ in New York (actually not so much a restaurant, but more a shop that sells hot dogs over the counter). It is revered by many an American actor and has appeared in films and TV shows throughout the States. Indeed the place is so ‘hyped’ that Angela and I once made a special pilgrimage uptown to savour one of their famous dogs. All I can tell you is that it was a simple hot dog, and really nothing special. I can’t imagine how New Yorkers might react should they ever visit Germany and taste a real Frankfurter Würstchen.

I’m ashamed to say that I discovered something the other day that I really should have known before….. the origin of the humble hamburger. I heard somebody asking “shouldn’t a hamburger be made out of ham (as the name would imply), rather than beef?” An obvious question perhaps, but one to which I did not know the answer. Being the foodie that I am, I thought that I should really know, so I decided to look it up. I was shocked by what I found!

Although the origin of the hamburger that we know today is still disputed (no, it wasn’t invented by Ronald McDonald), it seems likely that the name at least came from the minced ‘Hamburg’ steak eaten by German immigrants in New York towards the end of the 19th century. At that time the concept of mincing any type of meat was not common, but may have been introduced into Germany by the Russians who arrived in the country with their recipe for steak tartare. The common link that brought all these elements together was shipping – the Russians frequently traded with Hamburg, and Hamburg served as a major hub for Northern European emigrants to the United States. This probably explains how the original recipe found its way across the Atlantic, but the final step of putting the Hamburg steak between slices of bread, creating the Hamburg sandwich, is still disputed to this day.

Following this revelation there are absolutely no prizes for guessing the origin of the Frankfurter sausage (hot-dog). Yep, of course, it was invented by Mr Gray, the Papaya King!….. That’s a lie – the humble pork sausage in bread comes from Frankfurt, where centuries ago it was served as a delicacy at Imperial Coronations. (By the way, the expression ‘wiener’ refers to the Austrian capital Vienna, whose German name is ‘Wien’, home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef).

For those who don’t understand my previous reference, Gray’s Papaya is a very famous hot dog ‘restaurant’ in New York (actually not so much a restaurant, but more a shop that sells hot dogs over the counter). It is revered by many an American actor and has appeared in films and TV shows throughout the States. Indeed the place is so ‘hyped’ that Angela and I once made a special pilgrimage uptown to savour one of their famous dogs. All I can tell you is that it was a simple hot dog, and really nothing special. I can’t imagine how New Yorkers might react should they ever visit Germany and taste a real Frankfurter Würstchen.