When is it cool to be hot......

After looking in to the origins of Hamburgers I thought I would turn my attention to that other snack favorite the Hot Dog.

The Hot Dog is synonymous with Americans and in particular with baseball where it is almost a national requirement to have a Hot Dog when watching a match. There are an estimated 21m Hot Dogs eaten each year at the games and have been served at baseball games since 1893.

Unlike burgers the origins of hot dogs are more certain although the actual dates of the first hot dog are still clouded in mystery with estimates going between the 13^th century and the late 19^th century. What is certain is that they originated in Germany – Frankfurters from Frankfurt and Weiners from Vienna.

The meat content of a hot dog is pork or beef although cheaper hot dogs are often made from chicken or turkey. A range of condiments can be added in the making process and regional variations include paprika, peppers, salt and even potato. Unlike other types of sausages frankfurters and wieners are cooked by boiling and a precooked before selling and then simply reheated. Really good Hot Dogs are served in Skins, sheep intestines originally and the flavor rush is great as you bite through the skin. Grilled or boiled everyone has their favorite way of serving them. There are even now hot dog toasters to make life easier.

One of the best hot dogs I have ever had was in Melbourne, Australia where the hot dog was served hot out of a street vendor’s stall and topped with chili con carne and cheese -  a meal in its own right instead of a snack as is normally the case.

When the name Hot Dog was first coined it was thought that the content was wild street dogs and it took several years to allay this rumor. The spread of the Hot Dog world wide followed the inward migration of German immigrants into America and the following of popular American culture by other countries around the world.

I still remember a Saturday morning treat was to watch the Children’s time movie reel whilst munching on a Hot Dog. I wonder what taste could it be when combine a hot dog with a Trdelnik roll, the most popular pastry in Prague. The taste must have been like heaven, like relaxing in a gorgeous spa.

A little known fact is that the first words spoken by Mickey Mouse in a movie were “Hot Dog” – a far cry from the “mama” that most people utter as their first intelligible word.

Now off to investigate the origins of Pizza – I sense this could be a cause of a lot of argument and conjecture…..