I’m Fixing to Eat Myself a Hot Dog

I’m fixing to eat myself a hot dog.

It seems that’s what folks do on holiday weekends like this past Fourth of July one. In fact, according to the National Hot Dog Council, this past weekend Americans ate 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles over five times. From Memorial Day to Labor Day Americans typically eat seven billion hot dogs, or 818 every second during that time period. That’s a lot of dogs!

The top two hot dog-eating markets are Los Angles and New York, with Atlanta coming in at number eight on the top-ten list.
Besides the basic good taste, hot dogs can be prepared with many varying condiments and toppings, particular to a specific part of the country.

I used to enjoy a “Chicago Dog” sometimes just before boarding a plane home. Chicago, which comes in at the number five spot on the list mentioned above, served 725,000 hot dogs at O’Hare International Airport last year. The dogs there are steamed and topped with chopped onions, sweet relish and mustard, but never with ketchup. I have had the occasion to regret eating a couple of those when the plane hit some turbulence.

A “New York Dog” was mighty tasty, too, on the times I would escape from the Ivory Tower to the street below and have a dog which came with mustard, sauerkraut and sweet onions in a tomato based sauce. Otherwise, the folks where I worked would attempt to feed me an eggplant sandwich with couscous. Forget that!

Across the river in New Jersey, they serve a “Potato Dog” where the wienie is covered with diced stewed potatoes combined with brown mustard. In Clifton, N.J. they serve a “Ripper Dog” where the wienie is deep-fried to the point where it bursts open, resulting in a dense, caramelized outer casing and served with a homemade relish that’s a blend of mustard, onion, carrots and cabbage.

When in Birmingham I used to have a dog at Pete’s Famous Hot Dogs that was grilled and served with sauerkraut, ground beef and a special sauce similar to the New York red onion sauce.

In Seattle, the dogs are split in half and grilled, and served with cream cheese and grilled onions and jalapeno. In Cincinnati they serve a dog called a “Cheese Coney” covered with chili and cheese.
In Tucson they serve a “Sonoran Dog” that’s grilled, wrapped in bacon, topped with freshly chopped tomatoes, onions, shredded yellow cheese, red Chile sauce, pinto beans, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. Sometimes it’s difficult to find the wienie under all that.

Then there’s the Varsity in Atlanta, where we all know what makes them so good (Varsity Chile recipe available upon request). Or, if you have no imagination you can just get yourself a naked dog.

It seems there are infinite varieties of hot dogs and every different place has its version. Sometimes it’s a pleasure to just have a plain dog with a little ketchup or mustard on it.

Folks spent more than $1.6 million on hot dogs in U. S. supermarkets alone last year, and that’s not even counting the ones that were bought already ready to eat. I’m fixing to open me up a hot dog stand!