The Lowly Hot Dog

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According to MSN Tempo:
According to a 2020 survey of American grill owners, the Fourth of July is the country's most popular day for cookouts or backyard barbecues. Burgers, steaks, ribs, and other forms of protein will doubtless get charred for the occasion, but somehow it's the humble hot dog that seems most emblematic of the holiday. Maybe that's why we're expected to consume about 150 million of them across the nation on the Fourth this year -- enough to stretch between Los Angeles (the country's hot-dog-eating capital) and Washington D.C. five times.



According to some sources, the hot dog was invented in the late 15th century in the German city of Frankfurt-am-Main -- hence one of its alternate names, "frankfurter," meaning a person or thing from Frankfurt. Others trace it back to the Austrian city of Vienna, known as Wien in German -- giving us another one of the dog's monikers, "wiener" and its diminutive, "weenie".
What's certain is that by the late 19th century, the hot dog, by whatever name, was well-known in America. Today, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, we eat about 20 billion of them a year in all -- about a third of those during peak hot dog season, between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The elaborate Chicago version, for instance, adds yellow mustard, dark green relish, chopped raw onion, a pickle spear, sport peppers, tomato slices, and celery salt to an all-beef frank nestled in a poppy seed bun. (This is clearly the most popular variation nationwide, based on the frequency with which Chicago dogs show up on menus across the country.) Up in Alaska, on the other hand, the toppings are far simpler (grilled onions are popular) but the dog itself may well be made from caribou meat (usually described as “reindeer”).

My personal favorite is from a small chain in the Bay Area called Top Dog. Another favorite was the waffle dog from the now defunct KC Drive In on Kapahulu in Honolulu. At the bottom of my list is the Dodger Dog.

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