Different Style Dogs!

Hot dogs seem to be the rage around Broward County in the last year. A new stand opens every other month. And strangely, we've been hitting them.

I've noticed several style dogs;
Chicago style
American
NY
Canadian
Mexican
West Virginia

I know the Chicago, American, and NY dog has been around forever, but have any of you heard of the Canadian dog? Fat Lou's franchise serves this one up, and it's the bomb. Anyone else?

I'm not familiar with a Canadian dog, though I have eaten hot dogs in Canada. How's the one you're talking about served? What's on it? Etc. Thanks

It comes on a toasted piece of white bread/bun, with chili, cole slaw, onions, and grated cheddar. It's my favorite. I call it a "garbage hot dog."

Thanks for the Canadian dog info. It's interesting how the various regional hot dog preferences overlap all over the place. It's really a rather voluminous topic if you think about it.

And it's probably pretty impossible trying to figure the different influences here and there. It would be great to be a Henry Higgins of Frankfurters, whereby you could tell a hot dog's geography by what's on it... the same way Higgins tells a person's home by their dialect.

Slaw, for example, is generally seen as a Southern hot dog condiment. While Chili, well, almost all parts of the country are partial to it. But where in the U.S. did it take root first? Gosh...I'm not sure when the cooked onions craze snuck into the Greater Metropolitan area, sidling right up to the venerable mustard and kraut mainstay with uncanny authority.

And here I am, only a short drive from the Atlantic Ocean, and lately I've been knocking out Chicago hot dogs like sausages, to coin a phrase. It's this new world of ours. So many choices, progress and the such, I guess. Well, maybe it's a good thing.

Yet once upon a time, a hot dog for me was a Best Provisions (Newark, NJ) all-beef frankfurter, either boiled or griddled, and served on a hot dog bun with mustard and sauerkraut. That's it. Relish, whether hot or sweet, was for people who lived far, far away. Onions were only seen on hamburgers, and usually fried. It was a simpler time. But was I happier?

When I first got really interested in sampling hot dogs in Jersey, my favorite was (still is) the long Best Provision dog served at Syd's. Charbroiled dog, toasted bun, brown mustard. To this day I haven't tasted a better dog. But I do love the deep fried rippers from Rutt's with their unique relish, the tasty pork based grilled German style dogs from Galloping Hill Inn, and the chili dogs served at the Hot Grill, Manny's, Father & Son, and others. And I like the yellow mustard and pickle on the dogs at Charlies Pool Room and Toby's Cup in West Jersey. Some times I'm in the mood for a particular type of dog. It's great to have all these choices.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreenBear

Thanks for the Canadian dog info. It's interesting how the various regional hot dog preferences overlap all over the place. It's really a rather voluminous topic if you think about it.

And it's probably pretty impossible trying to figure the different influences here and there. It would be great to be a Henry Higgins of Frankfurters, whereby you could tell a hot dog's geography by what's on it... the same way Higgins tells a person's home by their dialect.

Slaw, for example, is generally seen as a Southern hot dog condiment. While Chili, well, almost all parts of the country are partial to it. But where in the U.S. did it take root first? Gosh...I'm not sure when the cooked onions craze snuck into the Greater Metropolitan area, sidling right up to the venerable mustard and kraut mainstay with uncanny authority.

And here I am, only a short drive from the Atlantic Ocean, and lately I've been knocking out Chicago hot dogs like sausages, to coin a phrase. It's this new world of ours. So many choices, progress and the such, I guess. Well, maybe it's a good thing.

Yet once upon a time, a hot dog for me was a Best Provisions (Newark, NJ) all-beef frankfurter, either boiled or griddled, and served on a hot dog bun with mustard and sauerkraut. That's it. Relish, whether hot or sweet, was for people who lived far, far away. Onions were only seen on hamburgers, and usually fried. It was a simpler time. But was I happier?

What an interesting way of putting it. I grew up near NYC and when you ate a hot dog, it was usually with mustard and sweet relish. Anything else on top was "decadent."

If any readers are thus inclined, it might be interesting to have folks inform where they grew up, and what the usual hot dog toppings were in their region, then and now. Naming the most popular hot dog brand in your area would also be informative.

Naturally, the choices are much more eclectic now, but it wasn't always so. Ostensibly, we could put together the definitive thesis on this subject if enough readers chime in. We have the numbers. We already have the topic title: Different Style Dogs. Any takers?

I can count about a dozen hot dog stands in and around Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood/Hallandale, and it's all "Vienna" brand, and the most popular dog is the Chicago Style dog.

But like I said, I really like that Canada style dog. I like the flavor of cole slaw and chili on top of the dog.

I grew up in CT, and hot dogs weren't food of choice then.
Hot dogs have made quite a resurgence down here... I was listening in on a conversation of a couple, speaking to the waittress one Saturday afternoon. They said they drove ALL the way down from Boca to try their hot dogs. That's a 55 minute drive for them.... So people are driving far and wide just to try a hot dog!

I enjoy hot dogs from "Pete's" in Newburgh NY. Toppings are mustard,relish and saurkraut. The hot dog is a local one: Temple Hill Hot Dogs. There is also a roadside stand on Route 17k called "Razzles" that uses the same hot dog.

Mike

If any readers are thus inclined, it might be interesting to have folks inform where they grew up, and what the usual hot dog toppings were in their region, then and now. Naming the most popular hot dog brand in your area would also be informative.

Naturally, the choices are much more eclectic now, but it wasn't always so. Ostensibly, we could put together the definitive thesis on this subject if enough readers chime in. We have the numbers. We already have the topic title: Different Style Dogs. Any takers?

<<Gosh...I'm not sure when the cooked onions craze snuck into the Greater Metropolitan area, sidling right up to the venerable mustard and kraut mainstay with uncanny authority.>>

It seems to me that onions as a topping for hot dogs, at least in NY City, has been around forever, but only from the pushcarts. I'm talking about that tomaotey-oniony "sauce" that just about every cart carries. Most carts do a good job with it.

---Ken

Dearfolk,
Y'all have me thinking about Columbus, Georgia's ubiquitous menu item - the scrambled dog!
As soon as gasoline comes down a notch, I need to go to Columbus and find the progenitor of the food, one Mr. Lieutenant Stevens, and shake his hand in thanks as I devour at least one example of that which he kept alive. He's usually at Dinglewood Pharmacy (I kid you not!!) on Wynnton Road during lunch, and if he's not helping serve, he's probably stirring a pot of chili, which is one segment of what his progenitation is all about.
I'll report back to y'all when I've made the trip.
Enscrambulated, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.

***************************FRANKS & EGGS?*******************************

Is there any part of the country where frankfuters and eggs is regularly seen on menus? I've had it here and there. One place called it a Hobo's breakfast. Someone once told me that the best way to cook the dogs for this breakfast is to split the franks and cook them in butter on the griddle.

Speaking of NYC hot dog carts, EVERY time I go to the city (3x a yr), it's a sacred act that we buy one hot dog off one of those carts and stand there and eat. Anyone else?

And to ScreenBear; whenever I get a honkering for a hot dog, I usually split them and fry them up in a fry pan.. Something about a scorched dog!

quote:

Originally posted by ScreenBear

***************************FRANKS & EGGS?*******************************

Is there any part of the country where frankfuters and eggs is regularly seen on menus? I've had it here and there. One place called it a Hobo's breakfast. Someone once told me that the best way to cook the dogs for this breakfast is to split the franks and cook them in butter on the griddle.

Hot dogs with my eggs doesn't move me.

Fried Kosher salami, however, or kielbasy and eggs: now you're talkin'.

Or, as the late, great, Alan King said:

"As life's pleasures go, food is second only to sex. Except for salami and eggs. Now that's better than sex, but only if the salami is thickly sliced."

"Fat ones, skinny ones, ones that grow on trees, thin ones, hairy ones, even ones with scrambled eggs."


No matter how you toss the cat, hot dogs are yummy, anytime of day, standing at a cart, at a ballpark, at the drive in, at the home depot, or at a picnic. And the more chit you pile on top of em, the better they are!

Can you find out the brand of that Canadian dog?...
Tara

Ok.. Here is one for you.. Here in Freeport, Bucks Naked BBQ serves a foot long on a bed of pulled pork....
(with cheese)..
Havent tried it yet, I am kinda scared of it.. HA HA>..
Tara

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

Can you find out the brand of that Canadian dog?...
Tara

They use Vienna brand.
I'm going to stop in one afternoon, next time I'm in the neighborhood, and get their menu, and list some of their hot dog's.

That Bahamian hot dog sounds... filling, to say the least!

I grew up in the belief that anything other than mustard on a hot dog was gauche.

I no longer believe that, but I still think that a good hot dog doesn't need all the toppings to taste good.

Indeed, putting too much on a hot dog probably amounts to gilding the lilly. Insofar as playwrighting is concerned, David Mamet says "Less is more." This maxim could probably be applied to the art of hot dog toppings.

And then again, the excess of trying to top one's neighbor led to some great Victorian home designs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Trying to festoon the hot dog with whatever you can think of next may be symptomatic of the times. Critics may say such folk are just trying to reinvent the hot dog. That if it were a really good hot dog in the first place, it wouldn't need all that stuff.

Still, I'm always curious. For example: Take this Chilean hot dog with its guacamole and mayo that's taking root in some communities. I neither relish (pun fully intended) the idea of mayonnaise on my frank nor am I particularly fond of guacamole, but it has me thinking.

Therefore, if you're ever driving down the road and you see a Victorian home with what looks like guacamole and mayo up on its widow's walk, that just might be my house.