He slapped together two beef patties, a tangy sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and three layers of sesame seed bun. He called it the Big Mac – and the fast-food sandwich became a big hit in his other 47 stores in Pennsylvania.
Delligatti’s franchise was based in Uniontown, not far from Pittsburgh, when he invented the chain’s signature burger in 1967 after deciding customers wanted a bigger sandwich.
The corporate headquarters initially opposed Mr Delligatti’s plan to use a triple-deck bun with sesame seeds. But Mr Delligatti went ahead with the new bun anyway. Without it, he thought, the Big Mac would be too sloppy.
In 1968 the Big Mac was launched in McDonald’s restaurants throughout the United States, and it is now possible to purchase the sandwich in 120 countries around the globe. In each of these countries, the Big Mac is generally made according to the same recipe.
The sandwich had two previous names: the “Aristocrat” and the “Blue Ribbon Burger.” The third name, Big Mac, was created by Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year-old advertising secretary who worked at McDonald’s corporate headquarters. The Big Mac proved extremely popular.
When the burger turned 40, McDonald’s estimated it was selling 550 million Big Macs a year, or roughly 17 every second.
Big Mac of Mac Donald
