From German “hamburg steak,” to McDonalds and White Castle, to grass-fed patties on brioche buns – the history of the hamburger has been intertwined with the history of the U.S. Josh Ozersky explains how the hamburger became an American icon. His new book is The Hamburger.
Weigh in: Tell us about your personal history with hamburgers. Do you like them? What's the best hamburger you've ever eaten?
Guests:
Josh Ozersky
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Comments [11]
My dad would go to White Castle at Fordham Road and W178th Street for five cent burgers in the late '30s when he was a student at Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. They so invigorated him that he went off to war in the Pacific, came home and fathered my brother and I. Thank you White Castle.
In Manhattan, Jackson Hole. Original I think is still in the East 60's, and there are/were at least one or two others on UES and UWS. Although I've cut back on that sort of thing and it's been a decade since I've been to one.
Huge patties, almost suspiciously affordable, with all the popular cheese variations etc. To cook them properly, they put a metal cup over each on the griddle.
WHERE can you get a good burger anymore? Not a McBurger. My fav burger places are succumbing to high rents, left and right recently. Where do you go for your burger fixes these days?
Can you ask him where he likes to get burgers in NYC?
Sorry I missed the comments about the bun. Did you discuss "disintegration"? Most white-bread buns at restaurants are a) too small and b) too flimsy. With even a modicum of condiments, they fall apart way before the hamburger is eaten. Worst offenders are those with the "pinwheel" construction. Who **designs** a bun to fall apart!!???
Big hamburgers need big buns, with something more than air to them.
I prefer hot dogs in the hamburgers-vs- hot dogs competition, but the best hamburgers i've had have always been homemade, with cheese, ketchup, and onion on top.
In the early 70s I worked in the West Village at what’s now the Archive apartment building. My friends and I had lunch regularly at a place on Hudson Street around Jane or Charles called the Cookie Bar. It’s long gone, but they had the best burgers I’ve ever eaten. Nothing I’ve had since compares.
I always thought The Hamburger was invented in Hamburg, NY at the Erie County Fair?
What about Louis's Lunch in New Haven...
http://www.louislunch.com/
Wo woulda thunk a chain could do it but Houston's has the best burgers ever
did anyone see the documentary King Cornon chan 13 friday night? after seeing it the thought of eating corn feed beef makes me sick.
the short of it is our corn based and corn feed beef diet is the cause of our national health crisis.
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