Slug Burgers What are slug burgers? A frequent question for the first time visitor to Corinth. You’ll find many opinions and explanations when you ask a local about slug burgers. For those who have not sampled this local delicacy, featured in many local diners, do not be alarmed. Slug burgers are not made from the terrestrial gastropod mollusk of the same name. Locally, slug burgers have been overtly, or covertly, eaten for as long as most living Corinthians can remember. A slug burger is a burger made of a mixture of pork and Soy meal extender which is then deep-fat fried to a golden brown instead of grilled as a common hamburger. In earlier days, cornmeal was commonly used as an extender in slug burgers and animal fat was used in the frying. The standard garnish for a slug burger is mustard, pickle and an ample dose of onion. The origin of the name is subject to some local debate and would be worthy of a PhD candidate’s research and dissertation in etymology. For many years, slug burgers were commonly sold locally for 5 cents (or a nickel). A slang expression for a nickel was a slug and hence, the most common explanation for the origin of the name, slug burger. Another use of the term slug derives from coins which were substitutes and may have related to slug burgers which were substitutes for real hamburgers. Yet another meaning of the term slug, in the meat packing trade, is for a dressed forequarter of lamb or mutton which could have possibly been used at some point in time in a meat mixtures as an additional extender to the more expensive beef. If you are particularly sensitive to fried food, or if you over-indulge in slug burgers, you may feel as if someone slugged you in the stomach and some residents believe this is the origin of the term slug burger. Finally, slug burgers should be served hot and eaten immediately. If they are not hot, and particularly in the days when they were fried in lard, a cold slug burger could bear some visual resemblance to garden pest and hence the name.
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