Slugburgers, hamburgers in which the meat has been supplemented with bread, meal, or crackers for filler, come from a triangular region that cuts across northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and southern Tennessee and roughly corresponds with
the Tennessee Valley. They're called slugburgers in
Moulton, Alabama;
Decatur, Alabama; and
Corinth, Mississippi; doughburgers in
Tupelo, Mississippi; and breadburgers in
Cullman, Alabama. This regional take on the hamburger
became popular during the Great Depression, when the price of meat made it necessary to use fillers to extend supply. Though the exact origin of the term is disputed, it is most commonly held that Slugburgers got their name from the coin used to pay for them: when each burger cost 5¢, you could pay for one with a nickel which was then also called a slug. Corinth, Mississippi, has held
an annual Slugburger Festival since 1988. Take
a photographic tour of the Slugburger Trail.
[more inside]
posted by ocherdraco
on Sep 18, 2009 -
78 comments
The Best Food You Never Had: Reading Jake Adam York's juicy essay on the art of the
barbecue, I was once again sadly reminded I've never had the pleasure of tasting real, Southern U.S. open-pit
barbecue. I have no idea whether it's better in
Texas,
Kansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky or Georgia; whether
pork is better than beef; smoked is tastier than plain... Then I realized there are quite a number of other delicious foods (
like fresh abalone sashimi; Alaskan king crab cooked live; a clam-bake on the beach; real wasabi; smoked sablefish; fresh unsalted caviar; an oyster Po'Boy...) I've never tried. It's an interesting gastronomic category: something you've read about and heard about and probably drooled over, that you just
know you'd love if only you had a chance to try it! So forgive my curiosity: what's the best food you've never had? [
Main link via Arts and Letters Daily]
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 12, 2003 -
95 comments
