You know when you think you’re being clever and you discover someone has been there before you… Ich Bin Ein Hamburger.
It’s a headline I put on a review of Hamburg. And a play on John F. Kennedy’s solidarity with the Berliners ‘Ich Bin Ein Berliner’.
It transpires though that the clever Haguers of Den Haag, or The Hague, came up with the same idea for their restaurant.
Now this feature, Hungry and Thursday, will revisit the Netherlands, and Dutch/Middle Eastern fusion food next week.
But for now I’ll look at burgers.
Again someone had the idea before me to seek out the origins of the hamburger.
My efforts were less successful.
Being the lost tourist that I am, and even with the help of The Scary One who knows how to get from A to B, I couldn’t find the restaurant I wanted.
It transpired as well that the place we’d identified to serve us our rundstuck would have been shut that day anyway.
The Hamburger, of course, is the world’s favourite takeaway food.
And it has the German emigrants to America to thank.
And now for the history bit
Who brought the rundstuck to America in the 19th Century.
Being good wholesome food it proved popular and a good source of nutrition for refuelling for manual workers.
And served in a bread bun it proved portable.
It has, of course, served the same purpose for future generations on the go.
Or just as a well-priced and quick alternative as a sit-down meal.
So what are the best burgers?
Well, they have expanded and you can get vegan, bison, chicken, you name it.
This is just a filler
And all manner of fillings… tomato and lettuce are staples.
I like mushrooms with everything but please, no gherkins.
And you can choose from a multitude of sauces.
For the best hamburger go to Hamburg. I can thoroughly recommend Dulf’s Burger www.dulfsburger.de and my review Ich bin ein Hamburger. And visit http://www.hamburg-travel.com
Where you’ll find what makes a hamburger a hamburger.
And it’s not ham which means ‘bend of the river’ or burger which means ‘inhabitant of a fort.
