Philosophizing About Food With Francine: Ground Beef and Sourdough Sesame Brioche Buns

by Francine Black

Sourdough sesame brioche buns- the essential vessels for our excellent beef burgers. On this recent Father’s Day, our son has invited us for a picnic featuring hamburgers on the grill. I was tasked to make the buns, naturally. While the dough was entering its final lift, I did a little research on this most iconic American food.

The thread of the tale begins 1000 centuries ago with the domestication of cattle in Mesopotamia. 

Giant leap ahead to “modern” Hamburg, Germany in the 12th century, and we find those good folks had perfected the art of butchering and preparing beef delicacies. 

Moving ahead to the mid 1800’s, Germans and their butchers immigrated to the US to escape political uprisings, bringing their traditions of meat magic which included chopped meat.   Restaurants began offering “Hamburg style” chopped beef. 

A century later, one James H Salisbury MD put forth that chopped meat was the antidote for digestive issues. This set the stage for the invention of the meat grinder. 

It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that ground beef met its bun. Many folks claimed to be the match makers of that incredible relationship: food wagons, fair stands and even the 1904 Worlds fair in St. Louis, which incidentally also introduced waffle ice cream cones, peanut butter, cotton candy and iced tea. 

Later came White Castle, McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. With an explosive 50 billion burgers sold annually, its marriage is still only 100 yrs old but remarkably its lineage began with Neolithic farmers!  

High in the mountains above Bally, where the dense groves of treetops seem to touch the sky, is Francine Black, Boyertown’s own version of chef Julia Child. Her daily activities reflect the things she most values: family and friends, music, and lovingly prepared food.

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