The history of... hamburgers, from Hamburg to pimiento cheese

by Sarah Gilbert, Posted Sep 19th 2005 @ 3:34PM

We'll get to the history in a second. First, we want to know, what is John T. Edge (prodigious eater of hamburgers and author of Hamburgers & Fries)'s favorite hamburger? It's the PC Burger from Columbia, South Carolina - yep, it's my favorite Southern condiment, pimiento cheese, rearing its orange head again. I can't wait to try Edge's version of the dip, which includes sage, scallions, and only a bit of mayo. "Put the cold cheese on the hot meat, and it begins to melt, and you get these little swirls and eddies on top of the burger as the cheese begins to melt..."

And now, the history. It seems that the men of Hamburg, Germany picked up a taste for raw, chopped beef (steak Tartare) in Russia, where their ships often stopped. Their wives were having nothing of this raw stuff, of course, and insisted on frying the minced meat into patties. Hence, the Hamburg steak was born, and migrated to the U.S. sometime in the 1700s. In the 1830s, Delmonico's served a Hamburger steak.

When the Hamburger steak was put onto a bun is another story altogether, and several different provenances around the turn of the 1900s are claimed. It may have been a meatball that was first served on a roll; but by the 1930s, American chefs were already mixing brown sugar and gherkins into their chopped meat. In 1951, burger stands were ubiquitous in New York City. If you'd like to learn more about why the burger is so popular, go, read the book.

In the meantime, you'll want to make pimiento cheese burgers, won't you? For the burgers, just whip up a couple of patties simply seasoned with salt and pepper, and top with this pimiento cheese (and nothing else):

24 ounces extra sharp cheddar, grated
1 4 oz. jar diced pimientos, drained
1 tsp rubbed sage
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp scallions, chopped
Pinch sugar (or more to taste)
1/3 c mayonnaise

Combine the cheese, drained pimientos, sage, black pepper, scallions and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise and work into a paste.

Source

Filed Under: The History of..., Ingredients, Methods
Tags: barbecuing, beef, broiling, cheese, eastern europe, hamburgers, lunch, pimiento+cheese, PimientoCheese, southern states