Happy 4th of July! we’re celebrating with our friends across the pond by creating two special burgers for the occasion. Although if you read on you’ll find that the burger was not invented in the land of the free, but some thousands of miles away. Independence day just wouldn’t be the same with out a parade so we’ve even thrown one of those in too. What ever you are doing have a wonderful time.
The burger most probably first put in an appearance in the late 19th or early 20th Centuries. The modern burger is a product of an increasingly industrialised society which sought a quick, easy, nutritious meal for those who had little time to prepare, let alone consume a meal. There is some controversy over who first slapped a minced steak between two pieces of bread, since the two main ingredients of this meal had been consumed separately and alongside each other for hundreds of years, but the Americans claim the privilege is theirs, and certainly the USA is more readily identified with the burger than any other nation.
It wasn’t long before all the trimmings started to be added, namely lettuce, fried onion and sliced pickles and then hot extras like cheese or bacon, ketchup, tomatoes, mustard began to be offered too. Quickly, the burger became central to a new type of cuisine, fast food, and something of a culinary icon in the USA. As the globalization of food gathered pace, the hamburger took its place alongside other national dishes that transcended national boundaries: the Italian pizza, the Turkish doner kebab, Japanese sushi. The hamburger’s conspicuous success in the fast food market is in part due to the fact that it is easy to understand and adapt into any culture.
The concept of selling processed food was first mooted in the 1920s by the White Castle restaurant chain, headed by Edgar Waldo “Billy” Ingram and refined in the 1940s by McDonald’s, who came up with the Big Mac Index, a comparative economic tool which allowed the chain to compare the purchasing power of different countries where the Big Mac is sold.
Prior to the disputed invention of the burger in America, similar foods existed elsewhere. In the 12th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan (1167-1227), occupied what is now Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan and because they travelled huge distances on horseback they often had no time to stop and eat. Consequently, they placed pieces of steak under their saddles. The friction would break the steak up into mincemeat and the heat from the horse’s body would cook the meat..,not take-away but carry-with!
When Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan (1215-1294) invaded Moscow, he introduced the Russians to this form of minced meat and steak tartare was born.
Whilst ground beef was used in many culinary traditions in Europe and Asia, the burger’s other main ingredient, bread, was used to accompany all kinds of foods but not to be a vital ingredient. That is until the invention of the sandwich which was in 1785 to honour John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who eat his beef between two slices of bread to avoid soiling his fingers whilst gambling at cards!
One question that is often asked is why Hamburger to describe a party made of beef? Many support the thesis that the Hamburg America shipping line brought the first Hamburger steaks to America from Europe. Hamburger steaks were fillets of beef, minced by hand and served raw in a bowl with onions and breadcrumbs. The name Hamburger Steak slowly got whittled down until in 1930 it was simply a hamburger which in turn has been replaced with the term burger.
The hamburger as we know it now is a dish that was associated with fairs, conferences and street vendors back in the 19th century. One Charlie Nagreen (1870-1952) sold Hamburger Steaks from a stall at the annual county fair. Finding trade not as brisk as he’d have liked, he flattened his Hamburger Steak and slapped it between two bits of bread so his customers could walk freely from stall to stall whilst eating, increasing his profits at a stroke. His product became known as Hamburger Charlie.,,a precursor to the burger we know and love today.
4th July Burger (meat)
2 tbsp spring onions finely chopped
1 tbsp Chilli Jam
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pound good quality steak mince
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl mixing thoroughly with your hands. Shape into burgers and allow to stand for a minimum of two hours in the fridge allowing the flavours to develop. remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to bring them back up to room temperature and then grill on the BBQ ( on white coals) for 6 minutes each side or until the juices run clear. If you are looking for something a bit more luxurious then why not try our luxury cheese burger?
4th July Burger (veggie)
2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more to brush on eggplant before roasting
1 red onion, diced
1 can of cannelloni beans
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium-sized aubergine
1 handful of freshly chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cumin
100g of hummus
150g panko breadcrumbs
Method
Preheat the oven to 230c/gas mark 8. Cut the aubergine in half and brush with olive oil, place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, turning after 10 minutes. Once the aubergine is cooked remove and allow to cool. Turn down the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. In the meantime fry -off the onion in a glug of olive oil and sauté until softened. Once this is ready place the aubergine, onion, beans, green pepper, herbs, garlic, salt, pepper and cumin into a large mixing bowl and combine with the hummus. Place the mixture into a food processor and pulse for no more than 20 seconds. Pour the mixture back into the bowl and add the breadcrumbs. Then using your hands, shape the mixture into burgers and place on a well-greased baking sheet covered with foil and bake for 45 minutes turning once, until golden.
Toppings
No burger is complete without toppings and here are a few suggestions. Firstly, you will need some burger buns. I like mine lightly toasted on one side but it’s entirely up to you. To serve your burger of choice then place on one half of your split bun, add your toppings and go for it !
Bacon
sautéed Portobello mushroom
Swiss Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Red onion rings
mayonnaise
Ketchup
Mustard
dill pickles
And of course no American Independence day is complete without a parade so here are seventy-six trombones to entertain you – Hey leader? Strike Up The Band !
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