If it wasn’t obvious, we love patties at Angel Bay. From beef burger patties to vegan patties, we know there’s nothing like a nice juicy burger to sweep those hunger pangs away and leave you satiated and satisfied.
But have you ever stopped to consider how we got to the delicious delicacy that we enjoy today? How did the humble burger patty start and how has it evolved over the years? Did we just stick mince meat between two buns and call it a day, or is there a little more to it?
That’s what we’re going to dive into in this article, where we discuss the rich history of the hamburger and hamburger patty!
The Ancient Beginnings of the Burger Patty
The Romans and Egyptians
The burger patty itself is quite a simple concept; chopped meat ground and mixed with spices is hardly an outlandish prospect. History seems to agree, as there is evidence of concepts that approach our modern patty being popular with both the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Romans.
The Romans partook in a local delicacy named the Isicia Omentata. This fancy sounding food consists of pounded and minced lean meat shaped into balls, like our modern meatballs but bigger, and mixed with various nuts and berries. Typically, these were served with crustless bread soaked in wine.
The ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago were also big on patties, with evidence found that they ate ground meat baked into patties for easy transport and consumption while on the go.
The Mongols and the Russians
The Mongols were big players back in the day, maybe you’ve heard of them? The then crowned “Emperor of All Emperors” Genghis Khan and his army of Mongol horsemen, known as the “Golden Horde”, had conquered two thirds of the known world in the 12th and 13th centuries, their empire starting from Asia and stretching all the way over to Europe.
As you can imagine, this included a lot of traveling by horseback. The Mongol horsemen sometimes went days without dismounting their horses, meaning they had little opportunity to stop and set up camp.
This gave birth to the practice of placing thick slices and scraps of raw meat, usually lamb or mutton, underneath their horse’s saddles to tenderize the meat as they rode. Health code violations of eating raw meat tenderised by horseback aside, this was the main way the Mongols kept themselves fed while traveling to their next conquest.
So, when they invaded Russia in the 13th century, they naturally brought their saddle-tenderised meat with them. The Russians adopted the dish and gave it the name “Steak Tartare” (Tartar was the term the Russians used for the Mongols). Combining minced meat with chopped onions, egg, and various spices it became an ancient Russian delicacy.
The Hamburg Hubbub
The German Immigrants to America
Fast forward to the 18th century, Germany had the largest ports in Europe at the time. They had brought back the steak tartare from the Russians to Hamburg and started calling it “Hamburg steak” (see the connection?)
The Germans at the time shredded low-grade beef and mixed in regional spices and cooked it up. It became a standard meal among the poorer classes.
Now here’s where it gets a bit hazy. The origin of what could be considered our modern “Hamburger” can be traced back to multiple sources.
Wisconsin, the Home of the Hamburger
One source states that the Hamburger originates from Wisconsin, America. The claim is that the first modern hamburger was made by Charles Nagreen in 1885. He had started a meatball business at age 15 but the business was struggling because the meatballs he was selling were hard to handle while strolling around.
This is when he had the idea of flattening the meatballs and placing them between two slices of bread and called it a “hamburger.” This apparently turned the business around and Nagreen’s hamburgers became very popular. To this day, Wisconsin claims the title of “Home of the Hamburger.”
New York’s New Burger
Another popular claim for the origin of the hamburger can be traced to Frank and Charles Menches (or the Menches brothers) of Stark County, Ohio. But the site of the fateful burger creation was all the way in Hamburg, New York.
The story goes that the Menches brothers were selling sandwiches at the Erie Country fair, but they ran out of pork one day. Since the day was so hot and humid they weren’t in the mood to get more pork by slaughtering pigs, so instead they substituted the usual sausage patty they used with a ground beef patty and served it to customers who loved it.
They christened it the “Hamburger”, named after the location the fair was being held: Hamburg, New York.
Hamburg’s Hamburger
This claim journeys away from America and back to Europe, to a restaurant cook in Hamburg, Germany, named Otto Kuasw. In 1891 it was recorded that Kuasw was making his own hamburgers, a thin patty of ground beef sausage fried in batter and sandwiched between two slices of lightly buttered bread, paired with a fried egg.
This sandwich was known as the Deutsches beefsteak, and was the favourite snack of sailors who docked at the Hamburg port. The story goes that sailors brought these popular sandwiches with them to America in 1894 when they visited the port of New York and told restaurants there about Kuasw’s sandwiches. The rest, as they say, is history.
So, which is it?
That’s the thing, these claims (and many more) each hold the same amount of water. Multiple witnesses corroborate multiple theories through spoken and written testimony. We may never know where specifically the world’s first modern hamburger was created!
Eventually the hamburger was refined with high quality ingredients and food standards that deliver the tasty patties we know and love today.
Beyond the Hamburger
Hamburgers very quickly swept across the world and became one of the go-to ways of satiating meat cravings at lunch time. But what about those of us who don’t eat meat? That’s where the amazing veggie burger comes in!
With the popularity of burgers worldwide it was only a matter of time before something like vegan burger patties came around.
The Veggie Burger
Like the Hamburger, vegetarian patties have a variety of origin stories. Recipes for burgers without meat have been circulated as early as the 60s. But the most well-known vegetarian burger patty was released by a man called Gregory Sams.
In 1982 he released the original VegeBurger to London markets and it caught like wildfire. To the joy of vegetarians across the UK and soon the world the VegeBurger illustrated demand for meat substitutes for burgers.
Pretty soon patty makers realised that the vegetarian market is a big one. Angel Bay is no exception! We’ve hopped on the vege hype train and offer succulent gourmet veggie burger patties that’ll satisfy your burger cravings with all natural healthy vegetable ingredients!
The Wrap-Up
Hamburgers have come a long way! From ancient Roman delicacies to the corner stone of the fast-food scene, the humble hamburger’s journey is a vast one! But the journey doesn’t end there, the burger is an ever-evolving food and we’re happy to be part of that journey!
Angel Bay patties are proudly made in Green Island, Dunedin where we use the freshest ingredients for partially cooked patties that go from the freezer to your plate in minutes. We offer premium angus patties, premium lamb patties, gourmet beef patties, and veggie and vegan patties for burger lovers that don’t eat meat.
If reading about the hamburger’s journey has got you craving some succulent burgers, then check out our range today!
Articles we have referenced
Thanks to these articles, we were able to bring this blog post to you:
- https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/hamburgerhistory.htm
- https://www.iatp.org/news/history-of-hamburgers
- https://texascooppower.com/the-first-hamburger/
- https://www.foodandwine.com/comfort-food/burgers/burger-timeline
- https://burgercravings.com/burger-blog/the-long-globally-influenced-history-of-the-hamburger/
- https://historicalitaliancooking.home.blog/english/recipes/isicia-omentata-ancient-roman-meatballs-wrapped-in-caul-fat/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/history-veggie-burger-180950163/
