True American Pride - Real Things to Celebrate About This Nation (#22)

AMERICANA - THE HAMBURGER

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" (J. Wellington Wimpy, "Popeye the Sailor Man")

The summer solstice was just a couple of days ago; the 1st official summer weekend began today. So in honor of that seasonal fact, for my 21st entry in this series I honor the “star” of oh so many summer weekend BBQs: The All-American Hamburger.

The hamburger is 7he quintessential American “easy to eat” (depending on how high you pile it!) meal. It has been the staple of American summer cuisine and cookouts for over a century. Big, meaty, extravagant at times - perfect fit for the American ethos. And as far as I'm concerned - in the travels I've made abroad - no other country does burgers (or sandwiches for that matter) as well as is done in the USofA.

As always, there are interesting facts about the hamburger that I never knew,

• The hamburger is thought to have originated in Hamburg, Germany, and may have been named after the city or the Hamburg steak, a popular ground beef dish from the 19th century. German immigrants brought the hamburger to the United States in the 1800s,

• White Castle, founded in 1921 by Walter A. Anderson and E.W. Ingram in Wichita, Kansas, is considered the oldest hamburger chain in the country. They originally sold their burgers for a nickel a piece.

• During World War I, soldiers sometimes called hamburgers "Liberty Sandwiches" to avoid using German names.

• It’s estimated that 14 billion burgers are consumed by Americans each year, which averages to about three burgers a week.

• The first true McDonalds restaurant opened in 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois, by founder Ray Kroc. McDonald’s holds the record of selling 300 billion burgers till date. The company sells 75 or more burgers every second.

• In 1982, 10,000 people came to taste the largest Hamburger ever built. Even if it was just a single bite; imagine the mammoth size that was needed to feed those 10,000 mouths. The burger weighed a staggering 3,591 pounds. (1.80 tons)!

The names we give American burgers are also a hoot. Consider this random sampling: Big Mac, Whopper, The Jucy Lucy, In-N-Out Animal Style, Doo-Whop, Heat Wave, Caddy Melt (last 3 from a local drive-in in GP, "Jimmy's Drive-In"). And of course...The Quadruple ByPass Burger (sold at The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas NV): 9,982 calories of tasty goodness consisting of four half-pound beef patties, twenty strips of bacon, eight slices of American cheese, a whole tomato and half an onion served in a bun coated with lard.

Getting full just writing that! But cheers to the American burger.