Forget “Big Mac” and similar industrial burgers nested in a sliced bun – after all, the invention of a burger happened long before the times of McDonald’s and Burger King. It is said that the first burger was served in 1900 by the Danish immigrant Louis Lassen at his stall called Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. That’s the official version. But there are multiple stories of who invented the hamburger, including the German (officially unacknowledged) version that gives its own story about the invention – the first burger was allegedly prepared in 1891 by Otto Kuase, who added a parched egg to the burger.

A hundred years later the hamburger turned into an industry. Easy peasy – mix a meat mass, grill it and serve in a sliced bun with ketchup, mayo, a bit of salad and a slice of tomato. Quick, filling, tasty, cheap.
The sky is the limit
With the emergence of more demanding eaters and cuisine this has become insufficient and gourmet burgers were born. The latter pay better attention to the meat, its quality and “immaculateness” (thus advertisements such as “made with 100% beef”, where the use of high quality beef is increasingly popular, e.g. Angus beef), as well to bread (which has to be slightly sweet, not crumbly, preferably a bit grilled), whereas toppings are a story of its own. Ketchup and may have been replaced with special sauces and dips, the fairly dull salad and tomato with grilled mushrooms, chilli, caramelized onion etc., and the cheap processed cheese for toast with slices of quality cheese with fuller taste, such as brie, camembert, cheddar and roquefort.

The burger has become a main dish served in some places for 20 euros or more. Top bistros and restaurants each have their own “signature” burger, and some have gone as far as a downright perverse creation with beef called “wagyu”, with goose liver, truffles, caviar and quail eggs. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s most expensive burger is served in the Serendipity 3 restaurant New York, where it costs 295 dollars (234 euros). The restaurant justifies the price with truly expensive ingredients (“wagyu”, herb butter with white truffles, smoked Pacific salt, 18-month-ripened cheddar, black truffles, a quail egg, caviar and bread with white truffles), and as a cherry on top, it’s served with a gold toothpick.

The best burger in Ljubljana?
Slovenia hasn’t reached this stage yet, but there’s an unofficial race for the best burger going on among Ljubljana-based food places. Hot Horse with its horse burger has become a must, and it’s being joined by new and aspiring creators such as two young cooks from Hood Burger, whose trailer at the Vič district has become such a hit that they had to expand the business.
Tokyo Piknik offers “wagyu” burger with valued Japanese beef on beet root, cooked in Port wine, and Emmental cheese, Cubeburger in BTC, Ljubljana’s shopping district, serves sirloin with truffles in a whole-wheat ciabatta, topped with spread of truffles, rucola and brie, and enriches its “cube burger” with bacon spread. Meat receives a lot of attention in Repete (but lack some innovative ideas for toppings), Tabar’s burger with its own dip is very tasty, and Centralna postaja makes its burger with sesame buns stuffed with chicken or beef meat.

Best combo: beer and burger
In times when Slovenia has a culinary festival for every possible dish, from sautéed potatoes to Kobarid strukelj, it was only a matter of time when the country would get its first burger festival. The date is now set: the Pogačar Square in Ljubljana will be reserved on 18 and 19 October for the first burger & beer fest – since beer is simply an ideal companion to burgers. The organizers have made use of the fact that beside gourmet burgers small Slovenian beer brewers have also made a big step forward, which means that the current beer offer is larger and more interesting than the iron duo Union-Laško.