Meinzer
Audrey Powles
Every area of the world has certain foods that they are known for. Kansas City has barbeque, Maine has lobster, New England has clam chowder, the Midwest eats cinnamon rolls with chili, but Pueblo, Colorado is the home of the Slopper. As summer begins, my cravings for this little taste of paradise grow stronger and stronger. I don’t consider myself a “foodie”, I’m just a fat kid with a taste for quality culinary cuisine. Food isn’t just something that satisfies an appetite, it can represent the culture of an area, serve as a reason for people to gather, and most of all bring comfort to those enjoying it.
What in the world is a Slopper you might ask? A Slopper is two hamburger patties served open faced and covered in green chili made with fresh chilis. It’s served with fries and usually the fries are smothered in the green chili as well. Top it off with shredded cheddar cheese and fresh sliced onions and it’s my ultimate comfort meal. Usually, you can have your choice of how spicy you want your chili to be, but the spicier the better in my book.
While there are two restaurants that lay claim to inventing The Slopper, my favorite is a hometown bar in downtown Pueblo. The Slopper is a perfect example of food being a representation of culture. Pueblo sits on the Arkansas river, surrounded by farmers that raise some of the best chili peppers in the nation. The Goodnight-Loving Trail saw cattle be driven through Pueblo in the late 1800’s and prior to that there were Spanish missions set up in the town. The Slopper blends the chili grown on the Mesa with the history of beef being driven and raised in the area and the southwest taste of it all points to the Spanish heritage in the town.
I’ve lived in several different states, each with their own variation of what a Slopper should be. Some places change the name, a south of the border burger, green chili burger or even a smothered burger. No matter how hard they try, they can’t seem to match the original. I imagine that eating a copy of a Slopper is like the experience a New Englander feels when they eat a lobster roll made by some guy in the middle of the country. It’s just not the same. There are certain things in this world that can’t be found anywhere else and the Slopper is one of those for me!
So this fall when you make the pilgrimage to the southern Colorado town of Pueblo for the Colorado State Fair, do yourself a little favor and treat yourself to a Slopper while you are there. Part of living is trying new things. Someday I’ll get to eat crawfish in Louisiana and drink a cold beer in Milwaukee. It just proves that food and places go hand in hand. That’s all for this time, keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire and God bless.
Meinzer is a fourth-generation rancher raised on the southeastern plains of Colorado. He and his family live and ranch in Oshkosh, Neb.
