Burger, or hamburger, is the name given to a grilled beef patty that is served in a bun, along with condiments like ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, etc. A burger is usually accompanied with lots of French fries. With time, other ingredients, like potato, vegetables, fish and chicken, have started replacing the beef in the patty. Burger is a very popular fast-food of almost all the kids as well as college-goers. However, very few have every thought about the history and origin of the delicious patty. To get some interesting information on background of burger, read on.

History of Burger

The origin of hamburger is a bit hazy and unclear. This is because there is no proper documentation to give us an idea about how the fast food came into being. Still, many people have claimed that the hamburger 'patty' was first noticed in the medieval times. Tartars (a band of Mongolian and Turkish warriors) used to place pieces of beef under their saddles. Under the weight of the rider and the saddle, the pieces used to turn tender enough to be eaten raw. Thus was born the initial beef ‘patty’.

A food item resembling the present-day burger, to some an extent, reached America around the 19th century. The dish, called Hamburg style beef, was brought to Hamburg (Germany) from Russia in the 14th century and when the German immigrants arrived in America, they brought it along with them. With time, the raw, chopped piece of beef evolved into the ‘patty sandwiched in a bun’. Thus, it can be said that America had a major role in giving the world the hamburger, as we know of it today.