The origins of the hamburger go back to the Roman Empire between the 4th and 5th century, when Marco Gavio Apicio dedicated a section of his culinary book, De re coquinaria, to explain the instructions for creating an isesta omentata, food that is closely related to the Burger. It is believed that it was popular among the armed forces of Rome because it was easy to prepare and transport. Of the same nature, there is a record of similar foods among the troops of the Mongols. These used to introduce fillets of camel or horse meat under the saddles of their mounts to obtain a ground meat and cooked by the temperature of the animals they rode. As you can see, the use was the same as that of the isesta omentata, because it was a food designed for the long voyages of war. Although this Mongolian recipe spread through much of the East due to the incursions of Genghis Khan, and that was documented by Marco Polo, it was not until the nineteenth century when it appeared in the West with the name of Tartar steak.
Beyond these antecedents related to war and nomadism, similar dishes appeared in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Thus, we have the carpaccio in Italy and the Mett and the Labskaus in Germany; although with the difference that in these cases the meat was served raw. For its part, Hannah Glasse speaks in the eighteenth century, in his book Art of Cookery, Hamburgh Sausage, a sausage made with different spices such as garlic, salt, nutmeg, black pepper or clove, which was served along with a toast . In this same century, it is also known that the English-born aristocrat, John Montagu, IV Count of Sandwich, used bread to introduce other foods into it. This served him to play in his cards and eat at the same time without getting his hands dirty. However, despite the fact that it was John Montagu who gave him the name with which we know him today, many cultures claim to have invented the sandwich before.
In the multiple conquests that, as we mentioned before, the Mongols executed, they arrived in Russia; and with that they brought the tartar steak to the country. The Russians, in turn, brought the recipe to the German port of Hamburg, which by the seventeenth century had gained vital importance due to its large mergers and the steam liners that left their docks for the US port of New York . Knowing the recipe for steak cooked, and due to the heavy traffic of European immigrants arriving in the city, New York chefs began preparing the steak in their restaurants under the name of Hamburger Steak to receive to the newcomers with a dish that was familiar to them. Although at the beginning the price of this steak was high, since it was aimed at those who could afford an ocean liner, the Hamburger Steak gained great popularity among the public thanks to its easy preparation as its price became increasingly favorable . Finally, the name was replaced by simply Burger in English to identify the different types of burgers that would appear once the steak was introduced into two loaves. Thus, they were born the burger with bacon (Baconburger) and the cheeseburger (Cheeseburger), among others.
Even though the German origin is the most accepted, there are those who say that the hamburger was born in America thanks to the settlers. The truth is that all the hypotheses show an interval of time in which the hamburger was born as we know it today. This goes from 1885 to 1904, when it began to be sold in small stalls in amusement parks, fairs, circuses and other multitudinous events. On the question of who introduced the two loaves to the Hamburger Steak formula, several candidates are held, two of which are the best known. Charlie Nagreen, who sold the hamburger steak at the Outagamie County Fair, said he had introduced the steaks between the loaves so that people could enjoy them while they were walking through the festival. The other candidate, Fletcher Davis, known as Old Dave, had a sale of minced meat sandwiches at the Universal Exposition in San Luis. The latter was interviewed by Dairy Queen for a documentary that talks about the origin of the hamburger.