Hot Dogs and Hamburgers From When?

 Since it is summer, most people have taken out their grills and begun the summer long tradition of cooking hamburgers and hot dogs outdoors.  I know I tend to do it about twice a week, especially when the house gets a bit warm.  I'm not sure when they became popular like this but it is interesting that both appear to have originated in Germany, many, many, years ago.

Let's start with hamburgers because they are so popular that McDonalds alone sells something like 75 hamburgers every second.  That is quite a lot.  Although the inspiration for the dish came from Hamburg, Germany, the sandwich didn't become reality until much later.

Originally, they combined chopped beef from Hamburg cows, mixed it with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, before patting the mixture into patties to be cooked.  At this time, the hamburger was served with only the patty, no bread or condiments.  Furthermore, these patties were considered gourmet and commanded a rather high price due to the type of beef used.  As Germans moved to the United States, they brought the dish with them and it often appeared on the menu of fine dining establishments with the highest price beginning in the 19th century.

Entrepreneurs from the lower classes began selling steaks prepared in the Hamburg style which used cheaper cuts of meat.  When the industrial revolution hit, workers found it difficult to eat a Hamburg steak purchased from a food cart so some enterprising soul began serving the hamburger between two slices of bread and the first modern hamburger was born but it was known as the Hamburg sandwich. It wasn't until much later that it gained the name "Hamburger."

In America, hamburgers took off in 1921 when the first White Castle opened and offered the dish for 5 cents each.  This was about the same time that Upton Sinclair published his novel "The Jungle" which exposed problems with the meat industry.  White Castle to counter the information presented in the book, installed stainless steel counters and ground the meat on the premises so people would see how it was made.

The idea spread to diners and restaurants across the country and the number of people kept increasing until they are a common part of the American diet.  The idea of the hamburger has even spread world wide with some local variations such as the potato - pea one in India or the rice burger in Japan.  And it makes a great summer food for camping, quick dinners, or a cookout.

Then we have hot dogs which are great for grilling.  These have been around so much longer than I expected and it's history is quite interesting.  Although sausages have been around for a while, the actual hot dog has only been in the United States since about 1850.  Originally, hot dogs were known as "dachshund sausages" and were sold from carts but around 1870, Charles Feldman opened the first acknowledged hot dog stand on Coney Island.  The hot dogs were sold without a bun so in 1880, an enterprising seller included white gloves with every purchase so they'd wear gloves when they ate the dog.  When he ran out of gloves, he started wrapping them in white bread and the modern hot dog was born.

Within 13 years, the hot dog was a favorite at ball parks because they could easily be consumed without a lot of mess.  In 1916, a lowly bread slicer who worked at Feldman's restaurant, came up with a better hot dog that cost less and he and his wife struck out on their own, selling this new version.  They were so successful that Feldman's went out of business while making "Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs" a national chain.  The hot dog spread far and wide to take the nation by storm.  Hot dogs are considered so American that the president and his wife served hot dogs to the English king and queen in 1939.  Now they are found everywhere from convince stores to ball parks.

I hope you found this interesting.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.