Wednesday means fried pie day at Hamburger Harold’s
Borroum’s Drug Store in downtown Corinth is one of many cafes serving up slugburgers, complete with mustard, dill pickle slices and slice of raw onion. A festival each July celebrates the slugburger, a meat and filler mix deep fat fried to a golden brown.
By Steve Beavers sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com Wednesday is fried pie day at Hamburger Harold’s. And the Crossroads area knows it. “They start calling around 8 a.m. with their orders,” said new owner “Uncle” Dave Stevens. “We have people who order a dozen at a time.” The maker of the popular pie is former owner Peggy Smith, who says she has been making the apple and peach variety since “she was old enough to stand on a stool and watch her grandmother”. “This was an ideal situation for me,” said Stevens of having Smith, who ran the restaurant on Fillmore Street with late husband Harold, make the mouth-watering desserts. “She is a dream and can run circles around me.” The fried pies are so good that Stevens sold 250 at April’s Green Market across the street on the grounds of the Historic Depot. “We couldn’t keep up,” he said. “Everyone wanted one that day.” Stevens says the small restaurant makes “right at 100” every Wednesday. “Peggy makes the pie filling and then we put them together,” he said. “They’re just as good the next day.” Hamburger Harold’s, around since 1958, sells the pies for $2.25 and has very few left the following day. When it comes to pies, the new owner knows who is the boss. “I own the place, but Peggy still is in charge,” said Stevens with a smile.
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pork, soy, flower, salt and water. It takes the company 15-20 minutes to make a fresh batch with getting the pork ground taking up most of the time. Slugburgers can be found most anywhere in Corinth, especially Borroum’s Drug Store in downtown Corinth, as well as the White Trolley and Slugburger Cafe, both on U.S. 72. Slugburger “meat” can be purchased in Roger’s and Gardner’s supermarkets, or large quantities can be found at Rickman’s. However, one must get lessons on how to deep fry the meat mixture before trying to cook at home. There are no slugs in the meat, but the name came from years ago when the burger sold for a “slug” nickel. Slugburgers are regional in the Crossroads area, but have different names outside Corinth — “ old fashioned hamburgers” in Booneville and “cereal burgers” in Selmer and Iuka. “I never heard my dad (Fate Weeks) use that word,” said Willie Weeks of Weeks’ Cafe in Booneville. “When my wife (Dianne) and I took over in 1980, people were using that word then.” Fate Weeks began a career in the hamburger business with his brother John in Corinth. John Weeks came across an old German recipe for burgers while in St. Louis and returned to Corinth to open a
hamburger stand. The popular burger is now referred to as the “WeeksBurger” at Weeks’ Cafe. The Slugburger Festival is always held the second weekend in July. The popular T-shirts are a must for the collector.
Hog Wild
If you are wild about pork barbecue, Corinth is the place you need to be on Oct. 4-6 The Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned event is three days of fun, entertainment and most of all plenty of barbecue for the whole family. The 22nd Annual Hog Wild BBQ Festival will crown a Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion along with handing out awards in Chicken, Pork Rib, Pork Shoulder, Brisket, Sauce, Dessert, People’s Choice and Anything But categories. Cooking teams begin vying for the titles on Friday with the finale set for Saturday. The Grand Champion will take home $1,000 in the annual event. The event is always held the first weekend in October.
CROSSROADS VISITOR’S GUIDE 2012-2013