we tend to think of the hamburger as a quintessentially American invention the fastest of fast food and a relatively recent innovation but the idea of grinding up leftover meat and forming it into a handy patty goes back hundreds of years the Romans were the first to write their version down in the shape of its akia omen tartar a mixture of a minced pork wine pepper and garam the new mommy rich fish sauce ubiquitous in Roman cuisine each was wrapped in caul fat the delicate tasteless inner lining of the thorax of cows sheep and pigs this
was high-end cookery and it survived the collapse of the Roman Empire with these proto burgers finding their way into medieval recipe collections under various names there were resolves patties and pomp ease and they could be flat or round more like modern meatballs they could also contain anything from fish to meat and occasionally fruit and vegetables variations on the theme were also found in the Middle East and beyond some of which such as kebabs were brought back by travellers to join the European repertoire by around 1700 the fried flavoured minced meat concept had become established as
part of the British culinary repertoire as oval or round balls they were very popular for garnishing large spectacular dishes such as roast meats the Georgians also came up with a thing called the Hamburg sausage which was based on minced beef and isn't a million miles distant in flavor from its eventual successor and they decided to use tomatoes to make catsup lady wood ketchup another fundamental element of the modern dish by the end of the 19th century all of the elements were in place but it was in the US that they finally came together by the
1870s American restaurants were serving Hamburg steaks named after the German port from where high-quality beef was shipped across the world this version was a dish of fried flushing meatballs though made from offcuts from the more prized and expensive actual steaks by now the mincing machine had been invented making it easier than ever before to turn bits of random meat into tasty and cheap meals by the 1890s the flat meatballs were being served in bread rolls to hungry workers at factory gates across the US with relation optional addition and pickles on one side the hamburger state
was shortened to the simple hamburger and a classic was born of course it could have simply stayed as an urban curiosity and died out like other street food such as dried apples and pickled oyster but it was very practical very easy and very popular in 1921 the White Castle fast food chain was founded marketing Barre hamburgers as pure a hygienic li produced something somewhat lacking from the average street version by the nicely 30s hamburgers had become simpler burgers and White Castle had competition from the first wimpy and then McDonald's in 1954 the first wimpy reached
the UK tucked into a Lyons Corner House injecting some american and glamour into a britain just released from rationing they were initially served on a nice plate with knife and fork things change rapidly however and burgers gained a dual purpose as a cheap forgettable takeout and barbecue fodder in 2013 the uk's horse meat scandal revealed just how much bad burgers relied on cheap off cuts and filler to keep the price down and posh burgers boomed along with the brioche bun and homemade sources worldwide despite slowly decreasing beef consumption in the West burger consumption is going
up and while Australia the UK in the u.s. lead the pack France and washer are catching up look on burger anyone thanks for watching don't forget to subscribe and click the bail to receive notifications for new videos see you again soon
