On September 18th we celebrate National Cheeseburger Day, taking place a few days after National Double Cheeseburger Day. But for anyone on a diet, this is going to be your preferred day to enjoy.

A cheeseburger is a hamburger with melted cheese on top of the meat patty, which is added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, a cheeseburger may include various condiments and other toppings such as lettuce, tomato and ketchup.

In fast food restaurants across the United States, processed cheese is usually used, although other meltable cheeses are used, such as cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, blue cheese, or pepper jack. Virtually all restaurants that sell hamburgers also offer cheeseburgers.

History

By the late 19th century, grasslands of the Great Plains had opened up for cattle ranching. This made it possible for Americans to consume beef almost daily and hamburger patties became popular almost immediately. Adding cheese to hamburgers became popular in the 1920s.

There are several competing claims as to who created the first cheeseburger. Lionel Sternberger is reputed to have introduced the cheeseburger in 1924 at the age of 16, while working as a fry cook at his father’s Pasadena, California, sandwich shop, The Rite Spot. An early example of the cheeseburger appearing on a menu is a 1928 menu for the Los Angeles restaurant O’Dell’s, which listed a cheeseburger smothered with chili for 25 cents.

Other restaurants also claim to have invented the cheeseburger. For example, Kaelin’s Restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky claims they invented the cheeseburger in 1934. One year later, a trademark for the name “cheeseburger” was awarded to Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, Colorado. According to Steak ‘n Shake archives, the restaurant’s founder, Gus Belt, applied for a trademark on the word in the 1930s.

Add FanCalendar as a preferred source on Google to never miss an update!