With Le Burger Week gearing up to take over several Canadian cities’ culinary scenes from September 1st through 7th, we thought it an ever-so apropos time to look at some of the lesser-known facts about everyone’s favourite comfort grub…
There’s no consensus on the origin of the hamburger
Some would say it originated in Hamburg, Germany, however, in a piece for Parade Magazine, renowned food writer Tori Avey debunks this claim. The most commonly accepted “origin” of the closest incarnation to what we know as the hamburger can be traced back to the mid-1800s, during the Industrial Revolution, when hamburg steak was sandwiched between slices of bread – thus creating the hamburg sandwich – and sold off of food carts to factory workers.
White Castle was the first fast-food chain to mass produce hamburgers
It launched in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, with the help of a $700 loan. Side note: White Castle was also the first fast-food chain to sell over a million and then over a billion hamburgers.
The most expensive burger in the world is found in Las Vegas
At Fleur by Hubert Keller inside the Mandalay Bay Tower, you can order up the Fleur Burger 5000, which, naturally, will set you back five grand. Why the hefty price tag? Wagyu beef, foie gras, and truffle are sandwiched ‘tween the bun, and the gourmet handheld is served alongside a bottle of 1995 Château Petrus.
The world’s largest hamburger weighed just over a tonne
Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton, Minnesota crafted a 2,014-pound goliath of a burger in 2012, topping it with over 50 pounds each of tomatoes, lettuce, and onions.
McDonald’s internationally sells more than 75 hamburgers…
…every second of every minute of every day. That’s about 6.5 million burgers a day!
In 2009 Burger King gave out free Whoppers to those who unfriended 10 people on Facebook
The ditched acquaintances then received a note saying they meant less to the ditcher than a Whopper. It was all a ploy to market the chain’s new sammy at the time, the Angry Burger.
In 2003, PETA offered Hamburg, NY $15,000
Why? It was a bid to have the li’l suburb of Buffalo officially change its name to Veggieburg. The town immediately declined the offer.
In Australia, one of the favoured burger toppings is…
…beets. That’s right, our friends Down Under love themselves some pickled beets atop their patties.
There was once a Cheeseburger in a Can
It launched in early 2008 by a German company specializing in foods for outdoorsy folk. Apparently, it was digusting.
In 2008, Burger King launched Flame cologne
It was described by the company as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.”
Image courtesy Creative Commons.
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