On Point on Hamburgers
Mar 27, 2008 general food
I had a bit of a driveway moment last night as On Point did an hour long history of the hamburger.
It was mostly because the main guest, Josh Ozersky, the “online food editor for New York Magazine and author of the new book The Hamburger: A History“ was an easy guy to listen to because he approached the subject like you or I would as just some dude that dug a good burger and decided to write about them as apposed to some snobbed up food historian that was trying to over-class a food that is simply soul satisfyingly good when at it’s best.
From his personal choice for the inventor of the hamburger (which is not the 1904 World’s Fair story) to the iconic status surrounding the burger in America they covered quite a bit of ground. They even included the original Big Mac commercial.
He had some serious Jeopardy-style hamburger knowledge and it seems like his book at only 160 pages would be a quick and interesting read if you were so inclined.
I’m not sure if there’s a podcast but you can stream the show on the On Point website here.
Tags: hamburger, hamburgers, josh ozersky, NPR, On Point





March 28th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Loving this resurgence of the burger. Just was in Vegas at Burger Bar, and the $7 burger at Off the Vine tops anything I ate there. Loving the back to basics burger resurgence.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I must admit, I am a burger snob. I have very staunch ideals when it comes to my burger. It has to be the right meat, cooked correctly…served on the right bun…or even toast sometimes..seasonings/toppings. Not many places make one to my liking. I really enjoyed the burger at Five when they had it on their lunch menu….word on the street you can get it at Newstead…but I digress….a burger is a very personal thing. Everyone has his or her preference. I love burgers.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
The dude said burgers on toast aren’t burgers. His argument was convincing.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
my grandma makes a good burger on toast…another example of nostalgic eating for me
March 28th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
His point was that they’re not burgers. That the burger itself was when someone put ground beef on a particular type of enriched bun because ground beef patties had been around forever anyway.
I like the point…that’s why he was so interesting…he’d really thought something through that is really so simple and had a really strong opinion of what it should be but without being snotty about it.
I bought the book the minute I walked inside.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Is a “Maid-Rite” a hamburger?
For the unknowing, it’s a “loose meat sandwich” popularized in Iowa in 1926…
http://www.maid-rite.com/aboutus/unique.shtml
No better “hamburger” can be found anywhere!