Hot dogs are considered typical American food. On the one hand, this is true, because the consumption of hot dogs by Americans has a long history, but on the other. …
Let’s find out more about this popular worldwide variety of fast food and have some fun at the same time, because the facts will not only be interesting, but also entertaining. So let’s go….
1. Hot dogs originated from ordinary sausages, which are mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. But who, after centuries, came up with the idea to put a sausage in a cozy bun? Opinions on this matter are contradictory, but one thing is clear – an amazing metamorphosis occurred with the sausage thanks to the ingenuity of immigrants from Austria and Germany of the 15-17 centuries.
And in fact, where should this have happened, if not in the historical homeland of sausages and wieners? Three cities claim the championship – Austrian Vienna and German Frankfurt and Coburg. Chefs of Austrian-German origin not only came up with an ingenious way of decorating sausages, but also took it to America, where the new dish became a hit.
2. No less questions arise about the origin of the name of this appetizer. If everything is clear with “hot” (hot – hot), then the second half of the name – “dog” (dog – dog) is puzzling, isn’t it? There is no consensus in the existing theories and legends on this score.
For example, some sources say that 1850 was the culprit, when it was discovered that sausage manufacturers did not disdain to stuff sausages with dog meat. A less shocking variation involves the artist Tad Dorgan, whose cartoon featured hot dachshunds at a New York baseball game, renamed dogs for ease of pronunciation.
3. Nathan Handwerker, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, is considered an iconic person in the history of hot dog popularization. Arriving in the United States, Nathan and his wife Ida borrowed $ 300 from friends and started a diner. The main course was hot dogs with sauce, the recipe for which Ida kept secret. A married couple sold them for 5 cents.
Delicious “hot dogs” with original sauce quickly became popular, and by the beginning of the Great Depression, Nathan’s hot dogs were already known throughout the United States. Today, Nathan’s Famous has grown into a huge fast food chain with a focus on hot dogs.
4. How much are you willing to pay for a mouth-watering, hot, juicy hot dog wrapped in a fluffy, crispy brown bun? 5 dollars? Or 10? What about 169? It was for $ 169 that the most expensive hot dog in the world was sold, prepared not for an exhibition, but for a regular sale in the American city of Seattle.
True, the ingredients in it were appropriate: cheese sausages in teriyaki sauce with fried onions and mushrooms, foie gras and truffles, caviar and Japanese mayonnaise on a brioche bun. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?
five. How many hot dogs are you willing to eat in one sitting? Imagine that you are very hungry! And hot dogs are fresh, fragrant, glowing with heat and flowing out with fresh meat juice! 2? five? Well, not 10, in fact, you say! And you will be wrong. Because the recent record for eating hot dogs is 62!
That is exactly how much the competitor managed to eat in 2015, and he did it in 10 minutes! This is impossible, you say! Wrong again, because in 2017 Joey Chestnut, competitive food legend and now 10-time Nathan’s fast food chain competition champion, set a new record by eating as many as 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes!
6. What meat is traditionally used to make hot dog sausages? Yes from the most different. It can be beef or pork we are used to. And somewhere it is customary to cook chicken or turkey sausages.
Often, the filling of sausages is vegetarian, including a variety of meat substitutes, garlic, salt, paprika, and other spices and substances as ingredients. Indeed, in hot dogs it is not even the meat that is interesting, but the original design, i.e. how this compact set of a wide variety of products is served.
7. In the post-Soviet space, the culture of cooking hot dogs has not yet developed in full force. At the word “hot dog” the average compatriot will imagine what? An oblong bun with a sausage and a strip of ketchup. Those with fantasy and imagination will imagine a plump ruddy side with decorative criss-cross cuts and grated Korean carrots.
But in America, the modern homeland of hot dogs, each region offers its own options for filling. For example, hot dogs with onions, peppers, pickles, tomatoes and celery are good in Chicago, while hot dogs from Coney Island and Michigan are famous for cheese filling, mustard and onions. In the southern United States, kale and chili sauce are added to them, while in other places hot dogs are popular in the form of sausages wrapped in a strip of deep-fried bacon.