May is national hamburger month
and it is also Barbecue month.
The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, Germany, from
which many people emigrated to the United States. Hamburger, in the
German language, is the demonym of Hamburg. Similar to frankfurter
and wiener, names for other meat-based foods, being demonyms of the
cities of Frankfurt and Vienna (Wien), respectively. A hamburger is
typically made with ground beef. White Castle traces the origin of
the hamburger to Hamburg, Germany with its invention by Otto Kuase.
Many others have claimed to be the first in the US to make
hamburgers.
The term "burger" is generic and may refer to sandwiches that have
ground meat, chicken, fish, or vegetarian fillings other than a beef
patty, but share the characteristic round bun. Other "burgers" are
usually referred to as "chicken burgers", "fish burgers", etc. Some
fast food places more accurately call them "chicken sandwiches",
"fish sandwiches", etc. An infinite number of fillings and toppings
can be found in many locations around the block and around the
world.
A veggie burger, garden burger, or tofu burger uses a meat
substitute such as tofu, TVP, wheat gluten, beans, grains, or an
assortment of vegetables, ground up and mashed into patties. This
really stretches the definition of 'burger'.
Another variety of hamburger is the slider, which is a very small
hamburger patty served on an equally small bun. This is the kind of
hamburger has been popularized by White Castle. The name comes from
their size (and sometimes greasiness) and are considered to slide
down your throat in one or two bites.
A cheeseburger is a hamburger accompanied with melted cheese. The
term itself is a portmanteau of the words "cheese" and "hamburger."
The cheese is usually sliced, then added a short time before the
hamburger finishes cooking, to allow it to melt.
In the US Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often
made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the
patty, or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty, and
called a "Butter Burger."
In Alberta, Canada a kubie burger is a hamburger made with a pressed
Ukrainian garlic sausage, kubasa.
In Toronto the local eatery Dangerous Dan's Diner offers the
Colossal Colon Clogger, 24oz burger served with a quarter pound of
cheese, a quarter pound of bacon, and 2 fried eggs.
A slugburger is a traditional southern delicacy found in northeast
Mississippi, US. It is a patty made from a mixture of meat or pork
and an inexpensive extender such as soybeans and deep fried in
canola oil.
My favorite is the Bacon Cheese Bomb, a cheeseburger with cheese
inside the meat patty rather than on top. A thick chunk of sharp
cheddar cheese is surrounded by the meat, which is a mixture of
ground beef mixed half and half with finely chopped bacon. The
smoky bacony flavor with a molten core of cheese within the patty
is ooey gooey heavenly bacony food for the gods.