National Hot Dog Day

Today is National Hot Dog Day!

Hot dogs are a food that is heavily associated with American culture, especially when it comes to sports. It's not unusual to see hot dogs be sold at stadiums during sporting events, nor is it strange to see tailgate parties in which hot dogs are grilled. Hot dogs can also be prepared by steaming or boiling. I like my hot dogs boiled myself.

So, where did the hot dog come from? Well, the sausage part of the hot dog (the wiener or the frankfurter/frank) was brought over by German immigrants. In fact, the frankfurter was named for the German city of Frankfurt, where they were born. They were referred to as Hot "Dogs" due to accusations of being made from the meat of dogs. While consumption of dog meat was common in some parts of Germany (like Saxony and Bavaria), and some hot dogs did contain it in the past, in general hot dogs were actually made from pork, beef, or a mix of the two. And in the modern day, there are vegetarian/vegan hotdogs made from plants. 

As for the origins of serving hot dogs in buns, that's a bit more debatable. There are a few claims to the creation of this concept. One was that English food concessionaire Harry M. Stevens used French rolls to hold the sausages when he ran out of wax paper while working at the New York Polo Grounds in 1901.

Another is that the wife of a German immigrant known only as Feughtwanger suggested serving them in buns to help protect the hands of people he was making the sausages for from being burnt by said sausages. A third possible origin is from German immigrant Charles Feltman, who ran a hot dog cart in Coney Island in the 1860s. His cart would have a stove to cook the sausages, and a compartment to hold fresh buns. He would build this into a restaurant that lasted until 1954. 

Hot dogs started being associated with various events in the 1920s. People ate them at parties and sporting events. And it's not hard to see why. Hot dogs are a simple thing to make. Just boil/grill/cook the sausage, slap it in a bun or some bread, put some toppings of your choice on it (I like mustard, ketchup, and cheese myself), and voila! A delicious little food that'll keep you going for a while. 

So, yeah. Hot dogs have been a beloved street treat for decades now. I hope you go enjoy one today! Thanks for readig this blog entry! If you like it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!