what did americans call hamburgers during word war i?

“It combined the cachet of foreignness with a word denoting a fine cut of quality beef.” Yet Hamburg steaks didn’t become a truly iconic American dish until somebody - who, exactly, is in debate - decided to place one of the ground-beef patties between two slices of bread in the early 1890s.

“‘Hamburg steak’ sounded much more elegant than ‘ground beef,’” Smith says. It soon became a popular cheap menu item at restaurants. First only sold in German restaurants, the Hamburg steak didn’t transition from German specialty to American dish until the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia. In the 1870s, the patty made its way to America, where it was dubbed a “Hamburg steak.” There was one main difference between the American and German versions: The American Hamburg steak was made from low-quality cuts of meat.

Germans have been eating these beef patties, called frikadellen or buletten, since the mid-19th century, according to Carolyn Taratko, a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. One of the most popular preparations of the beef was to chop it up, season it, and form it into patties, which were then usually grilled or fried. In the 19th century, Hamburg was known for producing superb beef from its high-quality cows that grazed outside the city, says Smith. Smith, author of Hamburger: A History, the hamburger’s main component - a ground beef patty - did originate in Hamburg. The origins of the humble sandwich are murky, but according to Andrew F. There is no more iconic American food than the hamburger, which serves as shorthand for American cuisine worldwide and certainly in Germany, where hamburgers are sometimes sold with American flags poking through the buns. It is advertising the Charles Bronson burger, a cartoonishly perfect-looking hamburger ensconced in a bun and inexplicably sitting atop a flaming grill. Two protesters hold up a banner declaring “No! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America.” For a minute I’m embarrassed to be American, relieved that my leather jacket and black pants don’t scream that I’m an expat.īut the feeling passes, and 15 minutes of walking later, we are confronted with another banner, this one hanging outside a building and sending a quite different message. It’s a chilly spring day in Hamburg, Germany, and my boyfriend and I have just left our hotel en route to a place called Burger Lounge, which touts itself as a “Real American Diner.” Immediately, we are confronted with a May Day protest filled with bearded hipsters and angry punks.

What did americans call hamburgers during word war i?