Yes, yes I know you’re dying to know how hamburgers came about in this world – so here it is.

While there are multiple theories, many believe the Mongols started the craze when raw beef was kept under saddles while they tried to conquer the world. The meat then became tender enough to eat after spending a good amount of time – ahem – between a horse and human backside. Kids, don’t try this at home. Eventually the tender meat phenomenon spread to Hamburg, Germany, where a dish called ‘Hamburg steak’ gained popularity. These events led to the experimentation with hamburg.

By the end of the 1800s, European emigrants had reached their destination of America on ships registered to Hamburg lines. Those travelers were served meat patties that had been cooked on a grill and placed between two pieces of bread.

There is an ongoing debate, as several men have been named as the true first inventors of this fine creation. The word hamburg first appeared in print in 1834 in Delmonico Restaurant, located in New York. By 1902, chefs began putting beef through a grinder mixed with pepper and onion. The burger gained worldwide popularity after the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

Vendors had served the burger to many customers and the New York Tribune described it as “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike.” Then, in 1921, White Castle opened the first hamburger stand in Wichita, Kansas.

Now, pop quiz time – roughly, how many hamburgers you have had in your lifetime a) hundreds b) thousands c) are you crazy, I am a vegetarian.

source: Geobeats

to be dying to know – furdalja a kíváncsiság
theory – elmélet
craze – őrület
saddle – nyereg
to conquer – hódítani
backside – alfele valakinek
phenomenon – jelenség
emigrant – kivándorló
meat patty – húspogácsa
ongoing debate – folyamatban levő vita
vendor  – árus, mozgó árus
pike – régies, nyárs
stand – bódé

Made with four Whopper beef patties topped with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and Tuscan pesto sauce, it comes cut into six slices, like a pizza. It also contains 144g of fat and 3,780mg of sodium. The takeaway option will be available exclusively at Burger King’s Times Square Whopper Bar in New York, from September, costing $13 ( £8.40). And if the pizza-burger doesn’t float your boat, the Times Square outlet also offers another exclusive – the Meat Beast Whopper, featuring beef, bacon, pepperoni, American cheese and mayonnaise.

Daily Mail