The Hotdog Kid

“Can we eat these at home?” - young girl asking her vegetarian parents after discovering hotdogs at a church event

Years ago, when I met with a nutritionist to lose weight, one food that was banned from my diet was hotdogs. A starchy roll with processed meat & chemicals that supplies one-third of your daily fat, and nearly half your daily sugar/carbs. [dietfact.com] Yet there is no denying that Americans, especially children, love them. My older sister, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) went through a phase where she refused to eat anything but hotdogs and earned the nickname “Hotdog Kid” from our grandfather.

Nearly every meat-eating culture in the world has invented some form of sausage to use meat scraps. So, while it is no easy task discovering the origin of hotdogs, it may be safe to give credit to the Germans/Austrians. The city of Vienna claims the Wienerwurst or Viennese sausage, the city of Frankfurt takes credit for the Frankfurter Wurst (1480), and a Bavarian butcher is said to have invented the "dachshund" or "little-dog" sausage. German immigrant, Charles Feltman, began selling sausages in rolls on Coney Island around 1870. [Wikipedia]

To my surprise, the top vendor of hot dogs is 7-Eleven with 100 million sold annually in North America. Or you can go upscale and find turkey dogs, chicken dogs, tofu dogs, wild boar sausages, etc. Last weekend we purchased some hotdog shaped venison & garlic sausages in sheep casing. On the rare event we do buy “hotdogs” for our home, my wife prefers the flavor and quality of kosher all-beef franks from Hebrew National. I still love their commercial of Uncle Sam looking at a hot dog with filler and then looking upwards when the announcer states that Hebrew National answers to “a higher authority”.

Bottom Line

Most hotdogs (as opposed to sausages) are precooked and can be eaten cold if not spoiled. Many doctors recommend that pregnant women heat hot dogs (and other pre-cooked, pre-packaged foods) to 160-170°F (70-77°C) for at least two minutes before consuming to reduce the chance of contracting Listeriosis (caused by a rare bacterium that can thrive at refrigerator temperatures) which can affect unborn children or even cause miscarriage or still birth. [Wikipedia]

For fun facts and fun places to eat hotdogs, check out the PBS documentary, A Hot Dog Program.