Hot dog

A hot dog is a type of fully-cooked, cured and sometimes smoked sausage of even texture and flavor that is softer and moister than most other sausages. It is the sausage most readily eaten as finger food, especially in the United States. It is usually placed hot in a soft, sliced bun of the same shape as the sausage, and optionally includes condiments and toppings. The resulting sandwich is also called a hot dog.

The flavor of hot dog sausages varies widely by region and by personal preference, as do the toppings on the sandwich. The flavour of the sausage itself can resemble a range of similar meat products from bologna on the bland side to cooked salami in the spicier varieties.

Hot dogs are traditionally made from beef, pork, or a combination of those meats. Unlike many other sausages (which may be sold cooked or uncooked), hot dogs are always cooked before being offered commercially. Unless they have spoiled, hot dogs may be safely eaten without further cooking though they are usually warmed up before serving. Vegetarian hot dogs and sausages which are made completely from meat analogue are also widely available in most areas where hot dogs are popular.

Hot dogs are also called frankfurters, or franks for short (named after the city of Frankfurt, Germany, the original frankfurters are made of pork only), or wieners or weenies (named after the city of Vienna, Austria, whose German name is "Wien", the original wieners are made of a mixture of pork and beef). In Australia, the term frankfurt is used rather than frankfurter. A tiny version, called a cocktail frank or cocktail weenie, is sometimes served at parties and eaten on the end of a toothpick. In the German speaking countries, except Austria, hot dog sausages are generally called Wiener or Wiener Würstchen. (Würstchen means "little sausage") In Swiss German, it is called Wienerli; but, in Austria, the terms Frankfurter or Frankfurter Würstchen are used.

History

Sausages similar to hot dogs were made and consumed in Europe, particularly in Germany, as early as 1864. Even in the United States, the hot dog's association with baseball also predates the 1904 Exposition. St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe sold them at his ballpark in the 1880s. While many persons are credited with the "invention" of the hot dog, according to the National Hot Dog Council the hot dog was invented in the 17^th century by a German butcher named Johann Georghehner.^[1]

"Hot dog" first came into use in an old joke involving a dog's "pants" (the verb "pant" substituted for the noun). The following was widely reprinted in newspapers, from at least 1870: "What’s the difference between a chilly man and a hot dog? One wears a great coat, and the other pants. The October 18, 1894 University of Michigan humor magazine The Wrinkle contained this on the cover page: "Two Greeks a 'hot dog' freshman sought. The Clothes they found, their favors bought." "Hot dog" meant a stylish dresser, someone who was sharply attired. A popular phrase was, "puttin' on the dog."

The night lunch wagons (popular in cities and on college campuses) that served hot sausages were called "dog wagons" by the 1890s. At Yale University, a "dog wagon" called "The Kennel Club" opened in 1894. The first known use of the phrase "hot dog" (sausage) appears in print on October 19, 1895 in the Yale Record of New Haven, Connecticut, which reads: "They contentedly munched hot dogs during the whole service;" two weeks prior, the Yale Record recorded: "Tis dogs' delight to bark and bite, Thus does the adage run. But I delight to bite the dog when placed inside a bun." Hot dog became an extension of the older use of dog to mean a sausage.

Hot dog lore suggests that newspaper cartoonist Tad A. Dorgan coined (or at least popularized) the term hot dog when he used it in the caption of a 1906 cartoon illustrating sausage vendors at the Polo Grounds baseball stadium because he couldn't spell "frankfurter". In some versions he could not spell dachshund. However, "hot dog" appears in print well before this date. The actual "Tad" cartoons featuring hot dogs (New York Evening Journal, December 12 and December 13, 1906) are from a bicycle race at Madison Square Garden, not a baseball game at the Polo Grounds.^[2]

Claims of "invention" of the hot dog are difficult to assess, because different stories assert the creation of the sausage itself, the placing of the sausage (or another kind of sausage) on bread or a bun as finger food, the mass popularization of the existing dish, or the application of the name "hot dog" to a sausage and bun combination.

In 2001, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council stated that others assert the hot dog was created in the late 1600s by Johann Georghehner, a butcher living in the German city of Coburg.^{[citation needed]}

In 1867, Coney Island, New York, vendor Charles Feltman began selling Vienna sausages in buns, which he called "Coney Island Red-Hots." By 1871, his business grew to the point that he traded up his food cart for a leased plot of land where he served 3,684 customers; by 1874 built a restaurant at West 10th Street and Surf Avenue, for US$7,500.

Others have also been "acknowledged" for supposedly having invented the hot dog, including Antoine Feuchtwanger, a German sausage-maker who served hot dogs at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, with his brother baking the buns.

General description

A hot dog is typically distinguishable from other sausages by its smaller size and relative lack of spicing. A regular hot dog of the kind popular at sporting events and readily available in supermarkets is roughly 6 inches in length (15 cm), though thickness and length can vary. The mild seasoning and smaller size allows children to eat hot dogs more easily than other sausages. There are many nationally distributed brands that tend to market similar products to all geographical areas, but many local brands still survive, mostly due to wide variations in regional hot dog preferences. Twelve-inch (30-cm) or "footlong" hot dogs are popular in some regions, for example.

Ingredients

There is no fixed specification for hot dog meat, with pork and beef being the most popular. Less expensive hot dogs typically contain chicken, due to the low cost and availability of mechanically separated chicken, and some pork. Hot dogs are generally regarded as unhealthy insofar as most have high sodium, fat and nitrate content. Contents can also be questionable, with cheaper types of hot dogs having been known to contain snouts, ears, and blended organs. In recent years, due to changing dietary preferences in the U.S., manufacturers have turned to turkey, chicken, or vegetarian meat substitutes as well as lowering the salt content.

In general, if a manufacturer produces two different hot dog-type sausages, "wieners" tend to contain pork, and to be the blander of the two, while "franks" tend to be all-beef, and more strongly seasoned. This is particularly true of Oscar Mayer.

Condiments

Throughout the world, there are numerous variations in hot dog condiments from region to region. The most common are mustard, ketchup, chili, sauerkraut, cole slaw, pickle relish and chopped onion. Others include mayonnaise, chopped lettuce, tomato (chopped, sliced, or in wedges), pickle spear, celery salt, cheese, canned corn, deep-fried potato sticks, and hot peppers, and usually served in a bun.

In the United States, the National Sausage and Hot Dog Council conducted a poll in 2005, which found mustard the most popular condiment (32 percent). "Twenty-three percent of Americans said they preferred ketchup. [...] Chili came in third at 17 percent, followed by relish (9 percent) and onions (7 percent). Southerners showed the strongest preference for Chili, while Midwesterners showed the greatest affinity for ketchup. Nationwide, however, mustard prevailed."^[3]

Some Americans believe that a properly made hot dog should never be topped with ketchup.^{[citation needed]} Often these people believe the flavor of ketchup overpowers and destroys the taste of the hot dog instead of complementing it.^[4] In Chicago, some restaurants and hot dog stands that consider themselves to be "true" Chicago hot dog grills do not, as a rule, carry ketchup in stock, even if they serve other food items that use this condiment, such as French fries. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, in its tongue-in-cheek recommendations for proper Hot Dog Etiquette capitulate only slightly to the public's general regard for ketchup, saying, "Don't use ketchup on your hot dog after the age of 18." (This alludes to the fact that many children like ketchup on their hot dogs due to the sweet taste, but adults are expected to have a more sophisticated palate).

The Coney Island hot dog, which is topped with a special "coney sauce" (generally a meatless chili), is also a favorite in the US Midwest. Several restaurants in Michigan claim to have invented the Coney dog, which is virtually unknown in its namesake Coney Island, New York.

Commercial preparation

Hot dogs are typically prepared commercially by mixing all of the ingredients (meats, spices, binders and fillers, if any) in large vats where rapidly moving blades grind and mix the ingredients in the same operation, assuring a homogeneous product. This mixture is then forced through tubes into casings for cooking. Most hot dogs sold in the US are called "skinless" as opposed to more expensive "natural casing" hot dogs.

Natural casing hot dogs

As with virtually all sausages, hot dogs must be in a casing in order to be cooked. Traditionally this casing is made from the thoroughly cleaned small intestines of sheep, and are known as "natural casing" hot dogs or frankfurters. These kinds of hot dogs are preferred by some for their firmer texture and the "snap" that releases juices and flavor when the product is bitten into.

Skinless hot dogs

"Skinless" hot dogs also must use a casing in the cooking process when the product is manufactured, but here the casing is usually a long tube of thin cooking plastic that is completely removed after cooking and before packaging. Skinless hot dogs vary in the texture of the product surface but have a softer "bite" than natural casing hot dogs. Skinless hot dogs are more uniform in shape and size than natural casing hot dogs and less expensive to produce.^{[citation needed]}

Final preparation

For a full list of regional differences in hot dog preparation and condiments, see Hot dog variations.

Hot dogs may be grilled, steamed, boiled, barbequed, pan fried, deep fried, broiled, microwaved, or eaten cold (most of the sausages themselves are cooked before packaging).

Availability (in the US)

In the U.S., along with ballparks, regional restaurants offer hot dogs. Few national chains in the U.S. offer hot dogs, despite the fact that its ease of preparation makes it ideal for fast food service.

A few chains in the U.S. that offer hot dogs include Sonic Drive-In and Dog n Suds, who call it a coney; Hardee's (but not their counterpart Carl's Jr. on the west coast of the United States, which is ironic due to founder Carl Karcher having started the Carl's Jr. empire with a hot dog stand); Dairy Queen; Wienerschnitzel (originally Der Wienerschnitzel), whose menu focuses on hot dogs; The Frankfurter in Seattle, Washington; Woody's Chicago Style; Nathan's Famous, which sponsors the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest; A&W and Spike's Junkyard Dogs located in Rhode Island and Boston. Krystal restaurants in the southeast offer a small hot dog called a Krystal Pup, and Fatburger, located mostly on the west coast of the U.S., offers hot dogs and chili dogs.

Yocco's Hot Dogs, founded in 1922, maintains six restaurants in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania and is known for its long-standing specialty on hot dogs and various toppings. Given Yocco's strong global popularity, the restaurant also has a mail-order business, providing frozen hot dog bags to customers around the U.S. and the world. A map of the world in each of their six restaurants marks the thousands of locations in the U.S. and internationally that have ordered Yocco's hot dogs.

Casual dining restaurants often have a hot dog on their children's menu, but not on the regular menu. Hot dog stands and trucks sell hot dogs and accompaniments, as well as similar products, at street and highway locations. Convenience stores such as Seven-Eleven often sell hot dogs that are kept heated on rotating grills; a selection of flavors and sizes is sometimes offered.

Walter's Hot Dog in Mamaroneck, New York, is one of the nation's oldest independent roadside stands.

Pink's Hot Dogs is another famous independent stand and is located in Hollywood, California.

Hot dogs variations

Main article: Hot dog variations

Trivia

• Takeru Kobayashi is the world's fastest hot dog eater.^[5] In 2002 he beat his previous record by one half of a hot dog, consuming 50.5 Nathan's famous hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. On July 4, 2006, he set a new record when he ate 53.75 in the same amount of time.

• The World's Longest Hot Dog created was 60m, and rested within a 60.3m bun. The hot dog was prepared by Shizuoka Meat Producers for the All-Japan Bread Association who baked the bun, and coordinated the event, which included the official measurement for the World Record. The hot dog and bun were the center of a media event in celebration of the Association's 50th anniversary on August 4, 2006, at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.^[6][7][8][9]

• Mickey Mouse's first spoken words were "Hot Dogs!".^[10]

• The city of Huntington, West Virginia, hosts the annual West Virginia Hot Dog Festival.^[11]

• Each year at Suffolk Downs in Boston, Massachusetts, thousands of people come to the Hot Dog Safari to contribute money to help people with cystic fibrosis.^[12]

• A meat market owner in DuBois, Pennsylvania, created a peanut butter hot dog recipe at the suggestion of the mother of a seven-year-old customer. The popularity of this invention spread around via the internet, and now the town of DuBois is discussing a "peanut butter hot dog" festival.^[13]

See also

• Mechanically separated meat
• Advanced meat recovery
• Chicago-style hot dog
• Coney Island hot dog
• Dodger Dog
• Hot dog variations
• Cheese dog

References

1. ^ Who invented the hot dog- article from the National Hot Dog Council.
2. ^ http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/hot_dog_polo_grounds_myth_original_monograph/
3. ^ http://www.hot-dog.org/pr/052505.htm
4. ^ http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_095.html
5. ^ O'Neal, Mike. "Kobayashi Remains Krystal King." Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhJlmerwRNE
7. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1H1XvKRzH4
8. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOaqNrkfDoI
9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDPJD-df7E4
10. ^ http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=54998
11. ^ http://www.edarnold.net/hotdog/ West Virginia Hot Dog Festival
12. ^ http://www.hotdogsafari.com/
13. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06162/697385-34.stm

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