Beef Burger IS a Hamburger

OK people, here it is, I do not know how many times I have gone around to places here and have asked for a hamburger only to be told “we do not have hamburgers, we don’t serve pork; we have beef or chicken burgers”. I even went to a restaurant here in Ipoh called Brewsters (supposed to be a top notch place specializing in Western Food) and in his menu he said something to the effect: “Hamburger---a pork patty toasted on a toasted bun ---not to be confused with either the “meat or place”. I have no idea at all what they were talking about, but here it is, a hamburger is not a HAMburger. How many TV shows, movies, Discovery Channel shows have there been about this. A Hamburger is, has always been and will forever always be, a BEEF Burger. 100 Percent made out of beef. If it is a pork patty, it is then called a Pork Burger and if it is made with a chicken patty, it would then be called a Chicken Burger, oh and if made out of lamb –yeah that’s it, come on now, say it with me: Lamb Burger.

How is it that so many countries and people around the world know what a hamburger is, but here a good amount of people (almost everyone I ever met working in a restaurant) thinks it means a burger made from ham. A Hamburger is called a hamburger BECAUSE of Hamburg, Germany: Hamburger is the shortened form of "Hamburger Steak", a minced beef patty originally native to Hamburg, Germany. Although there is also the claim that it is called Hamburger for Hamburg, New York as well: “Menches brothers 1885, Hamburg, New York. Western New York history records that Frank and Charles Menches ran out of pork for their sausage patty sandwiches at the 1885 Erie County Fair. Their supplier, reluctant to butcher more hogs in the summer heat, suggested they use beef instead. The brothers...added coffee, brown sugar, and other ingredients to create a distinct taste without condiments. They named their creation the "Hamburg Sandwich" after Hamburg, New York where the fair has been held since 1868; the name was probably later condensed by common use to "hamburger", which may explain why a beef sandwich - which never contained any pork - bears this name. The original recipe is featured at Menches Brothers Restaurants in Akron, Ohio”

Also, a couple of other things: I once ordered Fried Chicken from somewhere (I cannot recall where, although I am fairly sure it was KFC) in Malaysia and was served a strange piece; it was not a wing or thigh, not a leg or breast, not even the Bishop’s Nose, but was told it is the back, that’s right, a chicken back. Now, I am not certain, but after 30 some odd years of cooking, reading recipe books and eating at more restaurants than I care to think of, I have never come across anything ever called a chicken back. I guess chickens might have backs, but would there be anything on it to actually eat?

Then there is the “Chicken Chop”, now I do not dispute that there is such a thing, but I really would like to know what it is, I mean if it is the breast meat pounded down and flattened, then why not simply call it breast of chicken? I have seen this only in Asia, but maybe somewhere else, somewhere a little different, somewhere well in a world of its own (hmmm the UK---just kidding) there might be such a thing, but I swear there isn’t (I could be and probably am wrong though.) There is of course a pork chop, called that because it is cut that way, but there is no way to cut a chicken chop out of a chicken, you would have to smash it and the only meat you can do that with is the breast, therefore: Chicken Breast, or Breast of Chicken.

Lastly is the Mushroom Steak, now this one blew me away the first time I ever ordered one at a place called the Ship. This was about 10 years ago, my wife and I had gone to the Ship in KL, supposed to be a very decent place to get a great steak. I saw Mushroom Steak, so I ordered it and what I got was anything but. It was a thin piece of dry, no taste, very poor excuse for a steak covered with brown gravy. There were no mushrooms to be found, though, when I asked the waiter what that was, he said “your mushroom steak”, I asked where—he said “there, the gravy”. What The Freak Man!!! A mushroom steak is a grilled steak with real mushrooms on it. This was basically beef with gravy-that is if that thing I was served could actually be considered beef.