Who serves the best hot dog in town?
I submit it's a dog fight between Katie's Frozen Custard and newcomer G&K Hot Dogs, which has set up shop downtown on Austin Avenue in the last month.
I have other hot dog-related questions.
How did the hot dog get its name? This requires a Wikipedia search right now. ... Alas, no satisfactory answer. Actually, there was an answer of sorts, but I advise that you not look it up. It also described a hot dog as such:
"A hot dog is a sausage, typically served in a sliced bun. It is often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish, cheese, chili and/or sauerkraut."
Come on, Wikipedia. What about bacon? The cheddar, bacon dog from Katie's that I ate for lunch today had it, along with jalapeños. My Dixie dog had coleslaw and I was tempted to put green salsa on it, though it was tasty enough without it.
How about this amended definition of the hot dog: A hot dog is the perfect hand-held food, consisting fundamentally of a sausage or all-beef frank served on a sliced bun known as a hot dog bun. It is best when garnished with chili and cheese and/or sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, chopped onions, grilled onions, jalapeños, a dill pickle, short peppers, tomato slices, bacon, mole, guacamole, Tabasco sauce, pimento cheese and/or any other conceivable condiments, sauces and/or combination thereof.
Here's another fact that should be included in any definition of the hot dog. A friend of mine, whose identity will be protected until further notice, recently named the Chicago-style hot dog as her favorite food. This is significant as she's an erstwhile vegetarian. Perhaps there should be a name for a diet on which people don't eat meat, except for hot dogs.
I have other hot dog questions, but they can wait. I'm considering making hot dogs the focus of a weekly segment known as the "Two Chili Dog Lunch."
