Web Page 3081
1st December 2023
First Picture: Lyons Corner House Leicester Square
Third Picture: Wimpey Bender
Fourth Picture: Wimpey Menu
The Beef Burger
Who invented the beef burger?
There are many different theories when it comes to who invented the first burger.
Exactly who started the craze is still widely up for debate. Some say Jeff Lassen, the great-grandson of Louis Lassen, swears the invention of the hamburger is part of his family heritage in the 1900s but others point to Fletcher Davis, in Texas in the 1880s who brought his invention to the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904, where it massively took off and became an American icon. Another theory and possible inventor is Charlie Nagreen from Wisconsin, who at 15 was selling Hamburg steaks from a stall at an annual fair.
Where do burgers come from?
From Texas to Connecticut it seems that the US have used this name burger for many, many years followed closely by Hamburg in Germany who claim they're home to the first burger (as their name seems to subtly suggest). Historians believe that actually burgers first came about in ancient Rome when street food was hugely popular but there is no concrete proof of this.
Wherever they came from this piece of chopped beef sandwiched between two soft buns is a concept that, today, is known and loved globally.
Although findings of several lines of research point to the 1900s as a starting point, other research suggests that the hamburger actually dates back to the 12th century when the Mongol horsemen first ate steak tartare, (raw chopped steak in a bun). It’s said that this idea made its way through Russia before landing in Germany and then the world beyond.
It became a staple part of our British cuisine, thanks to the Wimpy Company and the golden arches of MacDonalds for bringing the concept to us in the UK first and allowing us all to go out and ‘grab a burger’. Wimpy bars introduced the hamburger here in 1954 when it opened its first shop that was situated as a franchise in the Lyons Corner House in off of Leicester Square in London and the first McDonald’s store opened in Woolwich in October1974 in south-east London. Since then, burger outlets have become massively popular and are dotted all over the country with several competing to be the best burger on the block.
Today, there’s a whole barmy army of burger fans in the UK with a National Burger Day (usually the weekend before the August Bank Holiday) , there are burger eating competitions and hugely popular street food festivals which are home to a number of burger pop up stalls of all varieties.
One of the items that Wimpey became famous for was the Wimpey Bender. For those who do not remember, this was a cooked frankfurter sausage which had been partly cut through so it could be laid out on the plate in a semi-circle.
I must admit to not being a great burger fan but I have been known to visit the odd store both here and in Sweden
At least these store have lasted, these days who remembers Spud-U-Like or Golden Egg?
Stay in touch
Peter
gsseditor@gmail.com
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