Nothing Beats The Burger

theburger

Nothing Beats a Burger

Despite being one of the most popular food items on the planet (Americans alone devour 4,500 burgers every minute, or 277,000 burgers per hour. That’s nearly six million a day and over two billion a year) the origin of the hamburger remains ambiguous.

he popular book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse included a recipe in 1758 as “Hamburgh sausage”, which suggested to serve it “roasted with toasted bread under it”.

A similar snack was also popular in Hamburg by the name “Rundstück warm” (“bread roll warm”) in 1869 or earlier, and supposedly eaten by many emigrants on their way to America. Hamburg steak is reported to have been served between two pieces of bread on the Hamburg America Line, which began operations in 1847. Each of these may mark the invention of the Hamburger, and explain the name.

Of course, it’s not that simple. A hamburger, or simply burger, is (technically) a food consisting of fillings —usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. However, the term burger can also be applied to the meat patty on its own, especially in the United Kingdom, or the term can even refer simply to ground beef, as in the United States.

For us Kiwis (and our Ozzy neighbours) a piece of chicken breast on a bun is known as a chicken burger, which would generally not be considered to be a burger in the United States; where it would be called a chicken sandwich, but

Tin Australian English and New Zealand English a sandwich requires sliced bread (not a bun), so it would not be considered a sandwich. Whatever you want to call it, there’s no denying the burger’s popularity and it’s rightful place on almost every menu, from fast food and foodtrucks to fine dining. Burgers are not just a revenue maker for food establishments. Everything that goes into making a burger, from the bun to the protein to the produce, can be sourced from local Kiwi suppliers, meaning burgers bring home the bacon for a variety of New Zealand producers too. In 2021, McDonald’s spent a record amount on ingredients from Kiwi farmers, growers and bakers. An impressive $175 million was spent on ingredients ordered from New Zealand’s primary industries to serve to Kiwis. A further $325 million of produce was exported, bringing the total spend with Kiwi producers to a record $498 million – an increase of $118.6 million from 2020. Hamburgers hold a special place in the history of global cuisine (there’s even a Hamburger Hall of Fame in Wisconsin in the United States!) and as the tastes of consumers continue to evolve, so too will this customer favourite. Long live the burger.