Clearly, people's tastes are often a reflection of nostalgia rather than an appreciation of good food. Although, how anyone can be nostalgic about hotdogs is beyond me.
One of our lesser politicians was once contemptuously dismissed as "an eater of hotdogs". Says it all.
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No self respecting person would never ever put ketchup on a hotdog.
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Give Sifton a break ! So many great ‘dogs’ to be had all over da place. What about NYC’s own Grey’s Papaya ? Brings me back to the Needle Park neighborhood year after year, some 30 years after I moved away...
Unfortunately, your number 1 pick (hot dogs) unnecessarily contains added sugars... As a Rhode Islander, my personal favorite, is linguiça! :)
If ever in the SF area, go to Los Altos and get sandwiches and/or sausages at Dittmers. Best selection around. My other recommendation is not to buy Hebrew Nationals 97% fat free hot dogs, just not the same taste.
I've abandoned dogs for brats. I love their crispness when they've been grilled and it doesn't seem as greasy as dogs. I've been making them with grilled peppers, onions, and roasted garlic which I place on the bottom of the bun. I place the brat in the bun and place banana peppers on one side and hamburger pickles on the other. I cover with spicy mustard and ketchup. Oh, boy, it is heaven.
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I love Sam Sifton, but he either didn't think this article through or hasn't done his research. Whether you are going for a sausage that stands alone (kielbasa, bratwurst) or to complete a sausage-bun-condiments situation(obviously he was going for the latter), DC's half-smoke has to be mentioned--and if you're talking about the latter, the half-smoke wins at a walk. C'mon down to DC, Sam, and discover half-smokes.
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I have had bratwurst from Germany to Wisconsin. I have to say that those made by Johnsonville are by far better than any of them. I know people in Wisconsin will disagree, but tough tarts. Johnsonville fresh brats are the best.
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The Forest Pork Store near me has their own Brats and Dogs. Wonderful both. They are truly the Best of the Wursts.
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Best hot dog I know of is on the Amtrak train! I think it's Nathan's but it could a different brand...
It's Hebrew National - now I have to go to the store to get some instead of the organic uncured beef dogs in our freezer! Plus I have to say our favorite summertime meat/sausages - involves Chimichuri - the best condiment for grilled steaks and sausages with nice crusty bread!
We have one of those small food processors - flat leaf parsley, olive oil, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, shallots or red onions if you want, oregano, basil, cilantro (optional)... blend it up and put it in a glass container - lasts a long time! delicious! salt and pepper too - yum!
If there are any vegetarians reading this, I am, I would say my winners are Tofurkey beer brats, and Italian vegetarian sausages. They have great flavor and snap, are very hearty grilled or sliced. No I dont work for the company.
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Hot Dog! By way of Frankfurt (er)! And it hits its' pinnacle in Coney Island!!!
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Although you can certainly get German "wursts" and Polish kielbasa hereabouts, there's still nothing like a smoked Slovenian klobase from Raddell's or Rudy's -- seasoned with black pepper and garlic and smoke -- with a hefty serving of horseradish in a grilled bun.
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What is a"kiełbasa"? It means -'sausage' in Polish and there are infinite variety of them. Saying sausage makes no sens.
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This is 2018! We need a testing of veggie sausages/hot dogs. I well know they’re hardly comparable, but the piggies and the earth will thank us, and doctored up with condiments they’ll do.
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I was amused by the reference to "white hots" and link to a 1983 story on the now defunct Zab's, an attempt by several young brothers to take their hot dog concept nationwide. The story condescendingly says that Zab's might finally put Rochester on the food map along with Boston baked beans and Texas chili. In reality, Rochester has had mildly seasoned white (called "porkers") and red (called "Texas") for well over a century. Zweigle's is the only local company left that makes them, and I just paid two dollars a frank to have some shipped to my home Michigan. They taste of home and sure beat the "Coneys" that pass for hot dogs here. To each his own.
It would take the wisdom of Solomon to decide which is best. While I am no culinary Solomon I would be willing to taste and judge all the entries. However, cold beer must be supplied.
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Bratwurst, made locally, by far. Who knows what is in a hot dog? We trust no commercial store brand. I know and watched our local meat supplier who makes his own brand and there are no lips and aholes allowed.
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The list is incomplete without the char-dog, virtually unknown outside Chicagoland but essential summer fare nonetheless. A char-dog is a hot dog which has been left on the griddle until the skin blackens and becomes crisp.
It’s delicious however it’s served: with yellow mustard and neon green relish, more heavily laden with pickle, tomato, and celery salt in true “Chicago style,” or plain with a delightfully subversive smear of mayonnaise; just not with ketchup.
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Hi Eric, these are my favorites! My parents knew to leave mine on the grill till they were blackened! And we didn't always need a grill or a bun; we'd butterfly them to increase the char surface area, spear them with a fork and blacken over an open flame on the stove. Then we'd wrap them in a soft, not-too-thin homemade flour tortilla, no condiments needed. The best ever. And a great memory of home for me.
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'RI-style' are actually known here as New York System wieners, with the mothership establishment located in Olneyville, on the outskirts of downtown Providence. And they are wieners, not dogs: diminutive at roughly 60% the size of a traditional dog. Because they are inseparable from their garnish of meat sauce, onions, spices and sweaty little rolls, they should be considered as a breed apart from the classic, grilled dog. If you want the real thing, try the Saugy brand, proudly made in Cranston, RI. Top-shelf ingredients and a mighty tasty dog.
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Ugh, ketchup on a hot dog!
Nothing is better than a Hebrew National on the grill.
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I prefer mustard. Don't get 97% fat free Hebrew Nationals as they are tasteless.
My man, New Bedford isn't anywhere near Cape Ann. Cape Ann is North Shore. Fantastic sausage though.
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New Bedford isn't on Buzzards Bay either! Sifton tries to write like an insider but he's short of the mark here.
Thanks for the link to a 1980 article on the Rochester, NY white hot (nitrate free blend of pork, beef and veal, more emphasis on the pork). The article mentions that Rochester was in search of its own local "soul food" and that the white hot might just be it. What the article couldn't know is that the white hot became a component of what would truly become Rochester's local soul food: the legendary "Garbage Plate" first created at Nick Tahou's Hots.
Only Nick's can legally sell a garbage plate (trademarked and all) but there are quite possibly a hundred or more greasy spoons and diners that serve their own "plates" in the Rochester region. A plate is your choice of protein (almost always cheeseburgers or hots, both red and white) on top of a mound of home fries/french fries, macaroni salad and possibly some baked beans. This mess is then topped with chopped onion, Rochester's own bright yellow French's mustard and the piece de resistance, the "hot sauce" which is actually a thin, very fine chili-like meat sauce with plenty of spice.
Will be there in July for a family reunion and I intend to eat at least 2 plates and countless Genny Cream Ales.
Sorry. You forgot to mention that Weisswurst is ALWAYS served with sweet mustard...(at least, in Germany it is). And you NEVER, NEVER eat the casing, just slurp it right out.
Also, don't forget the beer.
Guten Appetit!
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Absolutely! Also try to find good soft Bavarian pretzels (never those mall-style ones) that use lye; take a sniff and they should smell like the little bagged pretzel snacks--they also use lye (sodium hydroxide) for that distinct 'pretzel' taste and browning. Those mall-style pretzels usually use a dip of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) for the browning and though it is safer to handle than lye (which is caustic), the taste is not the same.
Fortunately a few years ago--armed with goggles, gloves, parchment paper, stainless steel bake-ware and utensils--I created a recipe, also using lye, that is almost indistinguishable to the ones I've enjoyed from Bavaria: shiny dark brown with cracks, slightly dense, and never too yeasty or airy. Of course the highest praise was from my Bavarian-born husband and his family and friends from back home. I keep a supply of food-grade lye on hand for those days when I crave them.
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Sam, Melissa, Julia: please, where are the kaesekrainer of Austrian/Slovenian origin? Quite sure they would place well ahead of most entries.
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Sorry, but both kielbasa and bratwursts are way better than hot dogs.
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As a fairly frequent denizen of Chavez RavineI have to say that the Dodger Dog is a very poor excuse for a hot dog. Overly salty and just a bad flavor. At $6.50 a pop they could do far better. Then again, Dodger Stadium lacks any really decent item of event food. When the baseball is good it doesn’t matter—but this year!!
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I'm sorry, but I grew up (in Iowa) eating all pork, or pork + beef, hot dogs. I don't like the denser, and less juicy texture of all-beef franks, not to mention its beefier taste. Pork is much more flavorful. Too bad most hot dog purveyors sell only all beef franks. I actively seek out all-pork, or at least mostly pork, hot dogs, although that is sometimes a challenge. Our local butcher sells an outstanding pork-beef (but mostly pork) hot dog which I love.
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A Nathan's hotdog with mustard and green relish, along with the crinkle-cut fries, does it for me only at the Coney Island location though.
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Worth the trip!
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One of the tastiest sausages I've experienced is the "sausage in sausage" served at Taiwan night markets. The "bun" is a rice sausage that holds a pork sausage served with various condiments. The pork sausage was interesting because the meat inside the casing did not appear completely ground but had nice texture. Wish I could find them locally.
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re: kielbasa -- grill them and top with hearty mustard and horseradish. forget the bbq sauce - ixnay.
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Yes! And never boil them, just steep them in hot water or 10 minutes the way Jacques Pepin does eggs. Along with good German bread, mustard, and a cold glass of beer, it is a wonderful summer vacation breakfast.
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And what is the Nathan's hotdog, with its crisp skin and garlicky juices -- chopped liver? I can think of few things more sensual than that first bite, accompanied by salt breezes and a bag of Nathan's sweet, crinkle-cut fries.
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It probably is chopped liver. To my mind there are better quality sausages available to make a great hot dog.
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Sorry. But if you think Nathan's is "chopped liver", you're no New Yorker.
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Well you obviously haven't had the amazing lamb sausage from Beaver Brook Farm in Lyme, CT. And I rarely eat meat. http://beaverbrookfarm.org
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Just be sure to eat Weißwurst by no later than 11AM, OK? Otherwise, the Bavarian food police will put you on a list of offenders. (It's late breakfast food in Bavaria - like cappuccino in Italy, it's simply not done to enjoy at any other time.)
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You obviously haven't been to Bayern (or Oktoberfest) where it's served all day, plus no mention the Süsser senf! ...which is a must!!! And Bavarian food police? -- a joke, right???
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Barbecue sauce on kielbasa? Yuck!
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Oh, I started salivating when you got to bratwurst. I am a born-and-raised Midwestern girl, so summer nights were their best when my dad threw some brats on the grill. A toasted bun, some yellow mustard (Plochman's, if you please), and a generous sprinkle of chopped white onion, and then eating them hot off the grill on the patio with my parents and brother, the residual heat slowly cooking the fragrant grease so my dad could easily scrape the grate.
I may need to go buy some brats now (and some hot dogs to make my Long Island-raised, Jersey-educated boyfriend happy). Another item to add to the list of things to master on the grill this summer.
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Since you are a keen connoisseur here's a tip: NOTHING beats a Thüringer Rostbratwurst!
May I suggest a quick trip to Germany on your list of things to do this summer???
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Bratwurst is almost too generic. In Wisconsin, there are many tribes of bratwurst, and even with in the tribe, sub-species. Names like Sheboygan have special meaning, and inside Sheboygan, everyone has their favorite butcher shop. None of these are USDA inspected and never leave the state unless you have a relative who will ship them to you. Makes me want to move back for the summer.
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And then you remember that the mosquitoes in Sheboygan are the size of eagles and you're glad you live in the desert.
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I have a long family history in Wisconsin. I now live in the south, and my option are quite limited. I still simmer in beer and onions, then on to the grill, and finally, on a soft, toasted potato roll. Stadium mustard for me, a throwback to my days spent in Cleveland. That's how I define summer.
I still remember my Dad stopping to buy brats and Sheboygan Summer sausage on our trips back home.
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Having just placed an order from a Milwaukee brat supplier for our annual Wurstfest, you can have them shipped. It is worth the advanced planning. Outstanding quality, in all the various subtypes.
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#1 the hot dog. LOL, nice to be a summer traditionalist but truthfully to much sodium and would never stand up to the competition if it wasn't about American summer.
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Hot dogs are inedible.
Everyone knows that.
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I grew up in Chicagoland and went to college on the shores of Chequamegon Bay, so I pretty well know a good brat (think Trinko's) from a bad one ... and I have yet to taste an even middling brat out here in the Mojave.
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Northland College?
Indeed.