Local lore has it that the hamburger as we know it was invented by an Athens resident, Fletcher (“Old Dave”) Davis, at his Athens café in the 1880s and introduced to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. A reporter for the New York Tribune wrote from the fair of a new sandwich called a hamburger, “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike.” While the food vendor was never named, enough evidence existed that the person was none other than Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas, that the 80th Texas Legislature adopted a resolution naming Athens as “the Original Home of the Hamburger.”

Fast-forward a century and you find people cooking hamburgers and almost everything else on Big Green Eggs, ceramic cookers with devotees from coast to coast.

Put the two together and you get Green Eggs and Ham…burgers, a friendly gastric get-together known to most as an Eggfest, which will take place April 11 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens.

Participants will come from across the country to showcase their personal recipes, meet with fellow Eggheads, and share some great food with the crowd. (In addition to regular admission to TFFC, there is a $5 fee for tasting if you pre-register online before the event, $10 if you don’t.) Proceeds from tasting fees benefit TFFC education programs.

Visitors can also go fishing, see a diver hand-feed fish, and walk our Wetlands Trail. A variety of vendors will be on hand with kitchen and grill-related products.

Individuals interested in owning a Big Green Egg may purchase once-used eggs at substantially discounted prices following the event.

A listing of cooks, registration forms for tasters, vendor registration forms and other details about the event can be found at www.athenseggfest.wordpress.com. Green Eggs and Ham…burgers is sponsored by Morrison Supply, Paragon Distributing, Brookshire’s, TFFC and First State Bank—Athens.

PHOTO:

Dozens of Eggheads will fire up Big Green Eggs and serve tasty treats to attendees at the fifth annual Eggfest at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center April 11.

TPWD Photo Larry Hodge