Monthly Archives: January 2007

According to a brief article in this morning’s paper, the Wisconsin legislature is considering a resolution to declare the town of Seymour the official birthplace of the hamburger. This is apparently in response to a movement to similarly memorialize the town of Athens, Texas (a claim which the mayor of Seymour labels as "bologna").

My immediate response to information like this is always to go look it up. I did extensive research, consisting of an Internet search for “history of hamburger” and at least seven minutes spent skimming several sites. That was just enough information to leave me thoroughly confused.

First of all, people all over the world have been eating ground meat in various forms for centuries. Perhaps the most famous version is that of the Mongols, who supposedly slapped ground meat under their saddles and ate it raw after riding on it all day. The rich flavor of horse sweat presumably made salt and ketchup unnecessary.

The name “hamburger” evidently did come from the city in Germany, which popularized a type of ground meat patty that became known as “Hamburg steak.” By the early 1800’s, this term was showing up on restaurant menus in the United States.

The crucial question, apparently, is who was the first to make the “Hamburg steak” patty into a sandwich. At least six or seven American towns claim to have invented the modern hamburger. Its origins are unsurprisingly similar—a food vendor at a fair or restaurant having the bright idea of putting ground meat between two slices of bread for an easy-to-eat sandwich. Purists also debate whether the patty-on-bread version is a true hamburger, or whether that distinction is reserved for the patty-on-a-bun variety.

If I were a more dedicated scholar, I could do further research, delving into the finer points of hamburger history: toasted vs. non-toasted buns, the origins of the cheeseburger, whether ketchup or mustard came first, and the proper place of pickles. But it’s getting close to lunchtime, and all this reading about hamburger is making me hungry. I think I’m going to go to a fast-food place and order a “Seymour.”

I’ve just returned from New Mexico; my fourth visit in the last couple of years. I find the people friendly, the art and architecture marvelous, and the broad sweep of landscape appealing. I can certainly appreciate the state nickname, "Land of Enchantment."

I have a bit more trouble, however, with the official state vegetable. Vegetables, actually—frijoles and chile. (To us northerners, that translates as pinto beans and peppers. Hot peppers. Leave-your-lips-numb peppers. Take-the-surface-off-your-tongue peppers.)

New Mexican cuisine is wonderful, I’m sure, for those who are accustomed to it. Not being one of those people, I find it uncomfortable. This is especially true when the chiles show up in places where I’m not expecting them, like innocent-appearing salads.

I’ve learned there is no point in asking, “Is this spicy?” This foolish question is invariably met with one of two responses. The first is, “Oh, no, it’s very mild.” The second is, “It isn’t hot, it’s just flavorful.”

Either reply means that one bite is going to take out half my taste buds. I’ve finally figured out that they really don’t intend to mislead me. It’s just that the definition of “mild” is in the taste buds of the partaker—and New Mexican taste buds are apparently inured to chile with their mother’s milk. Grocery stores probably carry three types of baby food: mild, medium, and hot.

I’ve also learned that servers aren’t going to ask "Do you want chile with that?" The only question—the unofficial state question, I have been told—is "Red or green?"

What I really have a problem with is not the hot food. I don’t even mind people assuming that eventually I could get used to the spiciness. That, I suppose, is true enough. What I object to is the assumption that I want to get used to it—or at least that I should want to. The air of superiority, served up like a side dish of green chile, is annoying. I personally find a tolerance for spicy food to be an indication of a strong stomach more than a strong character.

My Northern European immigrant ancestors certainly were people of strong character. This is despite the fact that they bequeathed a culinary heritage of three basic seasonings: salt, pepper, and onion. The more adventurous can add ketchup and mustard. If you want a little tang with your food, why, that’s what dill pickles are for.

Oh, we do indulge in hot food here, especially in the wintertime. We just define it differently. “Hot” means a bite of casserole still steaming from the oven, soup that’s only a few seconds out of the simmering pot, or coffee sipped at a temperature just one or two degrees below boiling.

In South Dakota, by the way, we don’t have an official state vegetable as they do in New Mexico. We do have a state dessert. It’s a fruit-filled pastry of German/Scandinavian ancestry called kuchen. What does that say about the difference in eating habits between the two states? I leave you to draw your own conclusions.