Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The purpose of this post is to share with those of you who have never had a Chicago-style hot dog, exactly what one is. Now most cities have their thing, with Philly it's the Cheese steak, in St. Louis it's the St. Paul Sandwich. Numerous cities have the same thing, like Chicago and New York, who share pizza and hot dogs. Yet, the beauty is, that each has it's own unique way of doing these things. I won't get into preferences here, in a move that which will make Journalism professors worldwide proud, I will strictly report.

It is said that a Chicago-style hot dog is a true Chicagoans only source of vegetables, that may give you a clue what you're in for here. We're talking encased meat, or in my case, TVP, served on a poppy seed bun and topped with onions, relish, pickle spears, tomato wedges, cutie sport peppers and mustard, but NOT ketchup, oh no! Or possibly, a tad of Ketchup. As amazing as all of that sounds, what really rounds out this most delectable of dogs *insert drumroll* a dash of celery salt! The first time I experienced this phenomenon, I was convinced a pretty and most magical fairy had sprinkled my hot dog in pixie dust!

So, now you're planning a trip to Chicago, right? Well, when you get here, you'll find there're a ton of hot dog stands and I'm sure most of them are worth a visit, but I am going to share one gem, and one alone, and this gem is called Hot Doug's. I'm mentioning Hot Doug's in particular, because Doug makes me wish I ate encased meats! In addition to the aforementioned Chicago-style dog, he offers specials, things like: White Wine and Dijon Rabbit Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde and Port Salut Cheese. Which, ya, costs $6, a substantial amount more than your usual hot dog, but rabbits and truffles, I doubt there's even any rat hair in the thing.

Today I learned that Hot Doug's is the first establishment in Chicago to be hit with a citation since the city-wide foie gras ban has gone into effect. All for serving-up fatty duck liver dogs.

2 comments:

beebimbop said...

thought this was interesting, if not a bit too far for the post:

mmm, hot dogs

Anonymous said...

that whole fois gras-thing was so pointless. city council just over-turned it.