No summer cookout is complete without a few grilled hotdogs.
As the Fourth of July approaches, we're honoring the nation's favorite outdoor food as well as its adaptations and incarnations throughout the decades.
The "Coney Island" Detroit dogs that are a favorite at All City Coney Island Eatery in downtown Montgomery are a lot like their namesake. (Hot dog lore has it that in the late 19th century, a German immigrant began serving up sausages on rolls at that famous beach resort, launching a fast food legend). Coney franks are 100 percent beef, served in their natural casing, and their primary add-ons are mustard, ground beef, beanless chili and yellow onions, said All City owner Daileen Carter. The bun is usually steamed.
But that's just one of dozens of varieties of hot dogs that regions throughout the nation have adapted to fit their tastes. Ball Park Franks (www.ballpark-
franks.com) offers a virtual tour guide of hot dog preferences across the U.S. In lower Alabama, most folks like them with ketchup, mustard, chili, sauerkraut and pickles. That's surprisingly similar to New York street-cart hot dogs -- boiled, then topped with an onion sauce and mustard or sauerkraut.
Chicago dogs are known for their poppy seed buns and layers of yellow mustard, green relish, chopped raw onion, fresh tomato, a pickle spear and, on top, a sprinkling of celery salt.
The "D.C. Monumental Dog" is a beef frank with banana peppers, onions, diced red peppers and sliced pickles, served on a steamed potato hot dog bun spread with mayonnaise.
Think that's unusual? In Seattle, some dog-lovers will only consume a split-down-the-middle frank on a toasted bun slathered with cream cheese.
And new variations are popping up all the time. At All City, customers increasingly request previously unheard-of add-ons such as mushrooms. Fix 'em how you want 'em, said Carter, but one thing's for sure:
"You know, I think that's just an overall American tradition," she said. "Hot dogs -- football games, baseball games, parties, pretty much anywhere you go -- they never go out of style."
In preparation for the weekend, there's probably no better place to get your hot dog and sausage facts than in Philadelphia, where Dietz & Watson, makers of premium franks and fine sausages for more than 70 years, has declared the summer of 2011 as "Grillebration."
Frankly, these summer meat experts have done their research.
It's no secret that people eat more hot dogs and sausages in the summer than any other time of year.
But did you know that Independence Day alone, Americans will enjoy more than 150 million hot dogs?
During "Grillebration," Americans consume 7 billion hot dogs, Dietz & Watson reports.
That's 818 every second.
The "Coney Island" Detroit dogs that are a favorite at All City Coney Island Eatery in downtown Montgomery are a lot like their namesake. (Hot dog lore has it that in the late 19th century, a German immigrant began serving up sausages on rolls at that famous beach resort, launching a fast food legend). Coney franks are 100 percent beef, served in their natural casing, and their primary add-ons are mustard, ground beef, beanless chili and yellow onions, said All City owner Daileen Carter. The bun is usually steamed.
Dog nation
But that's just one of dozens of varieties of hot dogs that regions throughout the nation have adapted to fit their tastes. Ball Park Franks (www.ballpark-
franks.com) offers a virtual tour guide of hot dog preferences across the U.S. In lower Alabama, most folks like them with ketchup, mustard, chili, sauerkraut and pickles. That's surprisingly similar to New York street-cart hot dogs -- boiled, then topped with an onion sauce and mustard or sauerkraut.
Chicago dogs are known for their poppy seed buns and layers of yellow mustard, green relish, chopped raw onion, fresh tomato, a pickle spear and, on top, a sprinkling of celery salt.
The "D.C. Monumental Dog" is a beef frank with banana peppers, onions, diced red peppers and sliced pickles, served on a steamed potato hot dog bun spread with mayonnaise.
Think that's unusual? In Seattle, some dog-lovers will only consume a split-down-the-middle frank on a toasted bun slathered with cream cheese.
And new variations are popping up all the time. At All City, customers increasingly request previously unheard-of add-ons such as mushrooms. Fix 'em how you want 'em, said Carter, but one thing's for sure:
"You know, I think that's just an overall American tradition," she said. "Hot dogs -- football games, baseball games, parties, pretty much anywhere you go -- they never go out of style."
Frank and sausage stats
In preparation for the weekend, there's probably no better place to get your hot dog and sausage facts than in Philadelphia, where Dietz & Watson, makers of premium franks and fine sausages for more than 70 years, has declared the summer of 2011 as "Grillebration."
Frankly, these summer meat experts have done their research.
It's no secret that people eat more hot dogs and sausages in the summer than any other time of year.
But did you know that Independence Day alone, Americans will enjoy more than 150 million hot dogs?
During "Grillebration," Americans consume 7 billion hot dogs, Dietz & Watson reports.
That's 818 every second.
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