In the beginning, many of the web pages that I first read to research this post decided to run with two “cool” ancient anecdotes. The first is that Homer mentions a primitive form of sausage dating to 900 B.C. The second is that the Roman Emperor Nero enjoyed sausage and that his cook named Gaius, would lend his name to the word sausage… As a history buff I certainly believe the first one. People were probably storing things in animal stomachs and intestines for thousands of years before Homer. Once sealed it’s water and air tight. It could also serve as a cooking vessels for leftover animal bits and grain. You know sausage. Nero probably enjoyed watching his sausage cook, pretending they were poor Roman citizens he could scam out of property. But his Gaius being the namesake of the word sausage… no. It comes from Latin meaning to season with salt. The name Gaius was like, I don’t know… Joe today.
The history of what we recognize as hot dogs today comes from Frankfurt, Germany. Big surprise. What is a surprise, is that as I am writing this, I do not think I had one when I was there. This is a bit of a bummer to me. Anyway, moving on. The sausages were handed out during the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor starting in the 13th century. This is about the time that Grey-Poupon became popular in France and Burgundy. I do not see this as a coincidence. Frankfurt was an incredibly important economic hub in the Holy Roman Empire. A status it holds to this day. It is no wonder that a trend started in Frankfurt would make its way to the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Wien or what we know as Vienna. Frankfurter is one other name for hot dogs along with wiener.
There is no argument that the Frankfurter was introduced in the United States by German immigrants. But when did it become famous? The histories at least agree it was a World’s Fair. What cannot be agreed upon is which one and which one introduced the hot dog served in a bun. Of course it is down to Coney Island New York or Chicago Illinois. Who would have guessed? It is here where I will state my love for the Chicago dog. Both stories have a common theme. A man had a business selling sausages. A glove was given to customers to eat their sausage and was supposed to be returned to the vendor after the sausage was finished. However, people kept walking off with them. No surprise. I cannot not decide if this is rude or not. These stories date to over 100 years ago. Things were different but today, would you want to leave the bowling alley with a pair of bowling shoes?
Today most towns have a hot dog shop. Most here in the east offer basic condiments: mustard, relish, onions, pickles, and ketchup (gross). Across the country things are different. You can probably find a chili-dog anywhere. It’s quality is always questionable. Other places they just pile on topping until you can’t even see the hot dog. All cooked in a variety of ways: deep frying, flat top grill, outside grill, boiled, steamed, pan-fried, microwaved, kept warm on those terrifying rolling machines. It doesn’t matter. They are all the same. Meat scraps in a tube. I will address what is in a hot dog in another post. The last thing I want to say is the best way to cook a hot dog is around an open fire with friends and family or on a charcoal grill. Which is the best way to grill most things.