Sunday, July 8, 2012

Ode to the Hamburger





I wanted something good for lunch.  Something simple.  Something tasty.  But what?   

Left-over spaghetti?  No. Not in the mood. 

Turkey? Yuck.  

 Apples? Watermelon?  Not filling enough.

Hamburger?  Perfect.

Wikipedia describes the classic hamburger as a sandwich of cooked (of course) ground beef patty placed inside a sliced bread roll. Everyone knows that.  Who first came up with this wonder sandwich?  Some say Fletcher Davis sold them at his café in Texas in the 1880’s and sold them at the 1904 St Louis World Fair.  Others claim different.  Who cares?



What restaurant has the best?  Delmonico’s in New York offered the burger on its menu in 1826.  McDonalds? Burger King?  Dairy Queen? Sonic?  My vote is for the one grilled in the backyard on an old charcoal grill.  No propane. 


My brother grew-up on hamburgers.  He ate 15 at one sitting when the Burger Broil first opened in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Fifthteen cents a burger. What a deal.  He later sat the Fayetteville High Vocational School record, eating 20 at one time.

It isn’t important to me who invented the burger, where or when it was sold.  The main point is nothing is better than a grilled hamburger complete with cheese, lettuce, pickle, onion, and tomato.  Nothing.

Except bologna and cheese.

3 comments:

  1. I remember Burger Broil. A kid's dad took a bunch of us there for a birthday party around 1965. The hamburgers were 8 for $1 that day. The dad spent $3 and fed 6 little boys. That was also the first KFC Chicken in NWA. Thanks for the flashback, Ruth. And by the way, I agree the best are cooked over charcoal. :)

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  2. Corroded bologna is pretty good too! LOL

    But them hamburgers are pretty good eating if in ya ask me!

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  3. We had Pesto burgers the other night. Does that count? I think Sonic has the best fast food commercial made hamburgers. Homemade are still better than all the commercial stuff.

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