Arthor: Steven Raichlen
America’s romance with hamburgers began in New York City in the 1800s, when food stands began selling “steaks cooked in the Hamburg style”—between two slices of bread—to German-speaking sailors and immigrants, often from Germany’s largest port, Hamburg. The exclusive NYC restaurant Delmonico’s featured “Hamburg Steak” on its menu in 1837, and charged 10 cents for it—double the price of roast beef. But hamburgers on buns first appeared in 1891, historians say, when Oklahoma farmer Oscar Weber Bilby served grilled ground patties of Angus beef on secret-recipe yeast rolls baked by his wife, Franny, at his annual July Fourth picnic. (The story gets better: Oscar forged his own barbecue grill from scrap iron in preparation for the event.)
