49 American Foods People Tried Once And Never Wanted Again

You could be forgiven for thinking that the beloved hamburger was born in the United States. There’s no shortage of burger joints across the country, and several reports reveal that Americans chow around 50 billion burgers annually.

“That’s nearly 800,000 miles of burgers consumed by Americans every single year — a long enough line to go to the moon, come back, then go to the moon again,” reports VinePair.

Hamburgers actually have their roots in Germany. Made from minced or ground beef that is spiced and cooked, they appeared in the 1800s in the port city of Hamburg (go figure). But some historians believe that burgers were already being eaten in ancient Rome during a time when street food was popular.

Nevertheless, hamburgers (known then by the Germans as frikadellen) are believed to have arrived in the United States in the mid-to-late 19th century, thanks to German immigrants who introduced the salted, minced beef to New York and other cities.

“I can imagine the frikadellen meant nothing to most people who were living in the US unless you were German. So they had to change the name at that point to ‘steak in the style of Hamburg,’ or simply, Hamburg steak,” explains George Motz, a burger "expert" who has traveled America researching hamburgers for his 2004 documentary film aptly titled, Hamburger America.

Motz believes that the hamburger, as we know it today, was inspired by the hot dog. Not ones to do “basic,” Americans started putting Hamburg steaks onto bread (Hamburg sandwiches), and eventually onto buns. Voila! A quintessentially ‘American’ meal was born.

“The hamburger is pretty much the only food invention in America in the last 100 years or so. It started out as ethnic food from Germany, but we adopted it and made it different by putting it on bread,” he says.

It would seem that Americans have Germany to thank for more than just the hamburger. Hot dogs apparently also have their roots in that European country. Again, it was German immigrants who introduced frankfurter sausages to the land of the free and the home of the brave.

These sausages originated in a city called Frankfurt (hence the name), and just like burger patties, they made their way onto soft buns in the United States. Nowadays, hot dogs come in all shapes and sizes.

Sara Lee Corp. even made a 1,996-foot one during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. However, it didn't qualify as an official Guinness record because it used separate individual buns instead of one continuous bun.

"The hot dog’s simplicity invites creativity: mustard, ketchup, relish, sauerkraut, chilli or cheese," reports luxury travel site Condé Nast Johansens. "Cities claim their own specialities: Chicago’s pickle-topped version; New Jersey’s Italian hot dog; and Los Angeles’ legendary chilli dog."

"Each bite reflects the immigrant ingenuity and local pride that make American street food so iconic," adds the site.

According to data from the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, that's a thing), Americans eat about 20 billion hot dogs each year. That's roughly 70 hot dogs per person. In case you were wondering, peak hot dog season is between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when around 7 billion hot dogs are consumed. Another 150 million (or thereabout) are chowed every Independence Day.

But the United States of America isn't all hot dogs and hamburgers. They like their fried chicken, too...

Southern fried chicken makes it sound like it originated in the south of the country. But yet again, this is a dish that was first born further afield.

"Some culinary experts linked such expertise to West Africa where, for several centuries prior to European contact, local populations ate chicken and deep fried their food," the BBC notes, adding that the West African version of fried chicken was a bit different.

"It was more like a fricassee, where chicken was lightly fried and then braised for a much longer time in a seasoned sauce – similar to Senegalese chicken yassa," it explains.