It’s nice to know that I have a loving family. So loving, in fact, that my brother, who lives in Chicago, sends me blog postings that I’ve missed on New York-based food blogs. The most recent post happened to be The 2009 Hot Dog Hootenanny! Nevermind the name – any hot dog themed event, I’m in. This event was hosted by Ed Levine of the popular food blog Serious Eat (http://www.seriouseats.com), as well as Bruce Kraig, author of the book Hot Dog: A Global History. (http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Dog-Global-History-Edible/dp/1861894279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242399796&sr=1-1)
As I walked into the event, I was already overwhelmed. They were handing out FOUR different styles of hot dogs – we’re talking full hot dogs. The first one I tried was from Crif Dogs (http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/crif-dogs) in the East Village. They were serving their Chihuahua Dog, which is a bacon-wrapped hot dog with avocadoes and sour cream. I tried not to act surprised and kept my cool. Truthfully, it was the hot dog being wrapped in bacon that kept me there.
Chihuahua Dog
Next stop was New York Hot Dog & Coffee (http://www.nyhotdog-coffee.com). The funny thing is, there are over 30 of these stores in Tokyo, but this is the first that’s actually in New York! They were sampling their Bulgogi Dog, a hot dog with thinly sliced Korean BBQ beef, lettuce and pickles on top. This was a little weird for a guy who grew up on the classic Chicago-style dog. I’m open to all new foods, well, most new foods. Was it good? Yes. Would I get it again? Eh, I’ll probably try another one of their crazy varieties, such as the Kimchi-Bulgogi Dog.
Bulgogi Dog
After that, it was New York’s own Papaya King (http://www.papayaking.com), a long, skinny hot dog with sauerkraut, New York-style sautéed onions and a brown mustard. Sabrett makes these hot dogs and supposedly there is a special spice that they put in this hot dog for Papaya King, but no one really knows for sure.
Papaya King
The fourth dog in the room was my hometown favorite: a Chicago-style dog from Vienna Beef (http://www.viennabeef.com). I was a little hesitant to indulge in my hometown dog while in New York, so I resisted the temptation.
After scouting the room, I went into a tasting room for a 30-minute seminar given by Chicago’s own, Bruce Kraig. Bruce talked about the history of the hot dog, the different styles of hot dogs and how hot dogs get used and abused. I will not go into too much detail, but we sampled hot dogs from companies such as Thumann’s, Usinger, Oscar Meyer and more. The only one that shocked my taste buds was Koegel’s Pickled Red Hot. Koegel is made in Flint, MI, and this hot dog really does have that vinegary pickled kick that you’re thinking of. It was definitely interesting, and good, I might add.
Oh yeah. My ability to resist the temptation to eat the Vienna dog? It didn’t last. I had one on the way out!
