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Want a hamburger? Wimpy and Steers are the fast food burger leaders in these parts (though, believe it or not, there is a McDonalds three hours east of here in South Africa). Wimpy, named I suppose after Popeye’s burger-loving sidekick, has good milkshakes and coffee, and they serve a cheap and relatively fast English-style breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc. etc). I just ate it this morning. Steers makes a good chocolate-dipped cone, reminiscent of the Southern US food chain Dairy Queen.
As for the burgers, not to be too critical, but, well, as a child I helped my father raise a cow actually named "Big Mac", and, though that does not give me any real authority, I must say, to be honest, that burgers here are a touch meat-loafy.
This is no surprise, and for three main reasons: (1) Hamburg, NY, where the hamburger is said to originate, is over 6,800 miles from Botswana; (2) the original Hamburg Sandwich dates back to 1885, when the Menches brothers of Hamburg, NY ran out of pork and, reluctant to butcher more hogs in the summer heat, decided to try/fry beef. This is ample time for recipe drift; (3) Even the Menches brothers found fried beef to be bland, and so added coffee and brown sugar. So, not even hamburger #1 was 100% beef.
Despite my efforts, I have uncovered no secret recipes related to the common spices/additives used in Wimpy and Steer. (Believe me, I have asked.) My guess is corn starch, Worchester sauce and perhaps some soy.
As for sauces, except during WWI when anti-German sentiment led to the US changing the name to salisbury steak (want freedom fries with that?), the hamburger has thrived worldwide, leading all other portable, meat-between-bread recipes. The meat sandwich has therefore been subject to toppings ranging from guacamole to chili to "Thousand Island Dressing" to BBQ sauce to queso, and that is in the 48 contiguous States alone. Hawaii and Alaska have tried pineapple and lox, respectively. The Germans, sauerkraut.
The African toppings, while high in volume, are derivations of the standards: relish-laced ketchup at Wimpy (probably better on a hot dog...but franks not on menu) and “Steer Sauce” at Steers (a type of sweet BBQ, though could use more hickory). When ordering, to avoid soggy disappointment, I recommend ordering sauce on the side…and dipping. Or, you can do breakfast at Wimpy's, drive three hours east to McDonalds for lunch (indistinguishable from stateside version), then head back for a Steers dipped cone, the perfect afternoon snack.
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