The Rockdale News Rockdale News Digital Edition September 24, 2014 | Page 9

The History of the cheeseburger
There are at least five different theories to
the origin of the modern day cheeseburger, all
of which involve a cook and a 1930′s diner in
America.
But before we even start talking about
cheese we must trace the history of the plain
old hamburger. This story goes as far back
as the 11th Century when
the Mongols carried
flat patties of meat
with them on long
horseback trips.
These Mongols
would travel to
Moscow and the idea
of a flat patty of meat
spread through the
city and was eventually
brought to Hamburg in
Germany by sailors. From here
it spread to New York and the meat patty became
known as a “Hamburg Steak” or hamburger.
Tracing the source of the hamburger (the meat
patty in two pieces of bread) gets a little more
tricky. The actual hamburger bun is said to be
invented in 1916 by Walter Anderson, a shortorder cook and founder of the first hamburger
chain White Castle. But the hamburger was
around much earlier and was made using two
pieces of normal sliced bread.
One claim of inventing the hamburger
sandwich comes from Charlie Nagreen of
Seymour, Wisconsin. In 1885, he tried selling fried
meatballs at a county fair, but customers found
them hard to eat while walking around the fair, so
Nagreen flattened it and made it into a sandwich
he called the “hamburger.”
Hamburg, New York, U.S. also claims credit
for the invention of the hamburger. This village
celebrates a “Burgerfest” every summer, held
to mark the anniversary of the hamburger’s
creation at the Erie County Fair in 1885 by the
Menches brothers.
Another claim is made by a small diner in the
town of New Haven, Connecticut, named Louis’
Lunch. It is sometimes credited with having
invented this quick businessman’s meal for busy
office workers in 1900. Similar claims are made
from almost every state.
The first cheeseburger was created between
1924 and 1926 by a chef named Lionel
Sternberger in Pasadena, California. The
anecdote goes along the lines of a passing
homeless man suggested Sternberger should
add a slice of cheese to his hamburger order,
Sternberger then added this to his main menu
and the cheeseburger was born.
Other places have claimed the invention of
the cheeseburger as part of their local legend.
Louisville, Kentucky-based Kaelin’s Restaurant
has claimed to invent the cheeseburger in 1934.
The following year, the trademark for the name
“cheeseburger” was awarded to Louis Ballast of
the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver,