It's not unusual I suppose that one of the most popular foods in America and now around the world is the hamburger. Was it invented in Hamburg, Germany? No but they ate likely a similar food at the docks of Hamburg, Germany where the famous Hamburg-America ship boarded. Foods like sausages and tender meat cakes were portable and could be eaten on the go without a knife and fork.
When these folks were in America they would often eat these "meat cakes" and like someone from London was called a Londoner, folks from Hamburg were called Hamburgers. This is how the story goes anyway.
There are a few different features in a German Hamburger, which they call different names depending on where your from. Ground beef is called "Hackfleisch" or minced beef. Before there were meat grinders folks use to scrape the beef even with a sharp spoon and get strips. Often the meat was from an ox and not tender.
Learn more at ancestry.com
Tenderizing the meat with a Panade
First of all a great way to keep a lean burger together and a good way to keep any burger moist is to use
something I learned in my French chef training as a "panade".
My grandma never thought it was something
special it is just the way Germans have done it for centuries.
when you soak bread in a bowl with some milk, and then smooth it into a paste it becomes a great binding agentas well as keeping the protiens in the meat from binding too strongly, and loose it's moiture.
James beard was always big on using sour cream in his burgers for tenderness. You can also use yogurt or sour cream instead of milk to make your panade.
Germans also use a blend of beef and pork.
If you ever look on the web for "Best Meatbal" ...or "Best Meatloaf recipe" you will find they use a blend of groundbeef, pork and veal. The combination is miraculous I think, and just makes a heavenly meatball. It is getting near impossible to find ground veal. However German's loose the veal in their burger recipe but it would be nice if you did.
The Addition of Spice
While our burgers are usually seasoned as we cook them with salt and pepper or a seasoning salt many recipes in Germany call for the addition of nutmeg, or caraway. Interesting difference.
German Names for the Hamburger.
Like they don't call a Philly Cheese Steak in Philidelphia, they didn't call a hamburger a hamburger in Germany. They call it a Frikadeller, or in Berlin it is a Buletten, other areas in Bavaria it is sometimes called a Fleischpfanzerl, or a Bratklops, a Klopes is also a meatball. |
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