Luther Vandross Burger

Hamburger Festival – Hamburg, PA, a culinary experience honoring the “holy grail” of fast food, the Hamburger.  The event is celebrated annually on Labor Day weekend.

Yeah, your eyes don't deceive!  Say, "hello" to the bacon cheeseburger on a glazed donut (aka: the Luther Vandross) a festival heart-attack! Talk about “food frolicking.”

Let’s grind through a “food frolicking” history lesson.  I’m pretty sure that no one really knows the origin of that fast food behemoth the Hamburger. So, I’m going to take a stab at my version of hamburger history.  Central to this lesson is my Grandmother, who was a first generation Hungarian and a self-proclaimed “Jersey Girl.”  Yeah, she had an attitude!

I promise we'll get to the "heart-attack," have patience.

Grandma, used to make a shredded/julienned meat concoction called “tartare,” which roughly translates to “Mongol” in Russian.  Tartare is the product of one of the craftiest warriors of all time, the emperor of emperors, a titan of torture, and captain of culinary creativity, Genghis Kahn.  In order to keep his Mongol horde constantly moving forward during battle, he developed the first “fast food” take-out .  .  . tartare! 

Eastern Europeans modified Kahn’s tartare recipe: a shredded/julienned meat patty placed under the saddle of your warrior’s favorite horse into a more civilized version which is the basis for today's raw meat burger recipe.  When Kahn’s warrior needed a quick bite, he reached under his saddle, pulled off a piece of microbe tenderized meat and galloped onto a full day of sacking, plundering & pillaging.  I’ll assume that neither Genghis nor Kublai Kahn had food safety training!

As a result of Kahn’s despoiling of Europe, the Hungarians and other Eastern European cultures enhanced his tartare recipe with chopped onion, raw eggs and other stuff to craft “Steak Tartare.”

Then in the late 1700’s sailors from the port of Hamburg, Germany brought the tartare/hamburger style of cooking low-grade meat to America.  These German Americans added locally available herbs & spices to make the shredded meat concoction that’s on almost every restaurant menu in America. 

The Hamburger Festival is in the historically German community of Hamburg, PA located off of I-78 at the northern end of Berks County and named after Hamburg, Germany.  The festival is a not-for-profit community based event that's in its 13th year.

Back to the Luther Bacon Cheeseburger.  After attending this event on and off for about 10 years, I finally got the nerve to try this unusual burger.  You absolutely have to queue-up before 11AM at the Deitsch Eck burger stand to order or the multiple lines by 12:30 PM are more than I have patience to endure.  While in line I learned the secret to experiencing this burger.  Don't add any condiments! Enjoy the burger in its natural habitat. But, make sure you have some extra handi-wipes; the glaze requires finger licking.

The Luther is confusing good!  I've never been a fan of "sweet & savory." Krispy Kreme needs to modify this recipe into a Breakfast Sandwich.  Change the burger to a sausage patty and WOW!  They'll put a hurt'n  on the competition.

The event has plenty of hamburger choices by well over 30 restaurants, local organizations (Boy Scouts) and food trucks.  There's a competition for the best burger judged by professionals and a "People Choice" by you the  public.  Schedule the Hamburger Festival on next years calendar and don't eat breakfast!

Food Frolicking in Hamburg, PA