Jen's Journal

Well, after a few moments of searching around on the www I found a couple answers.

From The History and Legends of Hamburgers site, I found out that "tracing history back thousands of years, we learn that even the ancient Egyptians ate ground meat, and down through the ages we also find that ground meat has been shaped into patties and eaten all over the world under many different name."

In the 18th and 19th Centuries the term Hamburg Steak caught on. "The largest ports in Europe were in Germany. Sailors, who had visited the ports of Hamburg, Germany and New York, brought the food and term "Hamburg Steak" into popular usage. To attract German sailors, eating stands along the New York City harbour offered, "steak cooked in the Hamburg style.""

As far as the actual term "Hamburger", its origin is unknown. Common theory is that "European emigrants reached America on the ships of the Hamburg Lines and were served meat patties quickly cooked on the grill and placed between two pieces of bread." They donned the name "Hamburger".

*** Please note if you choose to eat the burger pictured above you will have to visit your local Wendy's and purchase a Classic Triple with Cheese. Its serving size is 0.75 lbs and contains 40.0 grams of fat and 590 calories. For more information visit the Wendy's site.