Issue date: July 2, 2000

In this article:
Hot Dog links

By Mary Ellin Lerner

As you bite into the soft bun and crunchy casing of your beloved barbecued frank this Fourth of July, ponder why Americans love hot dogs. Franks, like July Fourth itself, are a humble but proud symbol of independence.

To feast on a frankfurter is, along with driving an SUV while chatting on a cell phone, one of the few acts of rebellion and courage still open to us in an ever more cautious and correct world. Gutsy ballplayers and heroic presidents are routinely photographed with teeth sunk into tube steaks. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore reportedly got engaged at a hot dog stand. Franks (served with champagne, of course) were the favorite food of the daring Dietrich.

We adore the wurst. "What people love most about hot dogs is that they are nutritionally incorrect," says food and pop culture writer Michael Stern, whose roadfood.com Web site celebrates blue-plate fare. "Most Americans are overwhelmed with people wagging their finger about what we should eat. A hot dog provides relief."

Indeed. Most 2-ounce dogs pack 16 grams of fat, 7 of them saturated, and a big dose of sodium, says nutritionist Jayne Hurley of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Bad, bad, bad, bad franks make us feel so good.

You must be brave to bite into a food rumored to, as Hurley puts it, "contain everything but the oink."

In truth, hot dog purity is monitored by the USDA and the FDA. Casings are stuffed with the same meats you see at supermarkets, although some include innards delicately dubbed "variety meats." The Hot Dog Council, top dog in a nation where the average citizen eats 60 wieners a year, tells the squeamish to read package ingredients to see if a dog is all-beef -- or made of chicken, turkey, tofu, even buffalo.

Hot dogs have tons of chutzpah, Stern says. "They not only defy all the nutritional prigs but also all the laws of good manners." We never nibble but rather shovel them into our mouths, at picnics, ballgames, standing up, walking down the street. We slather them with greasy, sloppy, intensely smelly condiments that ooze and slide onto fingers, faces and laps. Only a weenie would use a knife or fork.

Unlike other fast foods, the tube steak is loyal to regional taste. Chicago eats all-beef wieners in steamed poppy seed buns "dragged through the garden" -- Windy City-speak for a mini-mountain of pickles, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, peppers and celery salt. Cincinnati serves "Coney Islands," a pork/beef dog with chili sauce. New York loves steamed franks, sauerkraut, onions.

"Eating a hot dog is like kissing a baby," says Stern. "It shows you are not a snob." Maybe that's why Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is partial to a mint leaf-and-bourbon mustard "Derby Dog." The revolution is alive.

Go to the top

Hot Dog Links

The Fat Guy's Big Apple Dining Guide
Why New Yorkers love papaya juice with their hot dogs. Plus a comparison of places to buy weiners.
http://www.shaw-review.com/hotdogs.htm

The Hot Dog Toss Game
The object is to progress through 10 levels by throwing hotdogs into moving buns on the picnic table.
gamedudes.infinity.net/genres/kids/hotdogtoss/
www.happypuppy.com/win/demos/wbhotdogto1.html
www.rocketdownload.com/Details/Kids/hdt195nt.htm

Hot Dog Festival in Frankfort, Indiana
The small town has fun with puns and an annual festival the last Saturday in July.
http://www.accs.net/mainstreet/festival.htm

Footlong
The only Web site about hot dog movies, by two aspiring filmmakers.
http://www.foot-long.com/

Nordic Hot Dog Guide
News and personal evaluations of hot dogs in Norway, Finland and other Nordic lands.
http://www.regebro.nu/lennart/hotdogs.html

Who Cooked That Up?
A total hot dog page. A short history, a few wonderations, methods for cooking hot dogs and links to further frankfurter pages.
http://members.home.net/jjschnebel/Cookup9.htm

...And they've even got an association...
The Hot Dog & Sausage Council
http://www.hot-dog.org/default.htm

Photo by RENEE COMET for USA WEEKEND