Although the humble hot dog was not invented in the United States, it certainly has been adopted as one of our favorite summer foods. The evidence can be easily found at Costco where you can buy a gigantic hot dog and a soda for $1.50.
When I have a hot dog, I prefer something simple. I like a bun, I like a beef hot dog with mustard. No other adornments, give me that and I’m satisfied. But there are an enormous numbers of ways to present the hot dog, (Some more palatable than others) with chefs and entrepreneurs trying to elevate the humble hot dog to gourmet status.
So, a small group of people gathered together in New York City, (naturally) to judge which regional hot dog was the best.
According to seattletimes.com,
‘Many U.S. cities have put their unique spin on the humble glizzy. And this week, the Seattle dog was named the best regional hot dog in the country in a New York Times taste test.
NYT’s Wirecutter team made eight regional dogs for a bracket-style taste test video published Monday, with every type of bun, sausage and topping imaginable.
Who decides the winner?
The three-person judging panel consisted of food writer Kathleen Squires, Wirecutter’s Katie Quinn and chef and activist José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen. I don’t know much about Kathleen Squires or Katie Quinn, but I have great respect for José Andrés as a chef and a judge.
The Regions represented were New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Kansas City and Arizona, and because we all love sports metaphors, they created brackets and had a “taste off”.
(Watch the video below for the full breakdown)
After the preliminaries, it came down to two dogs. The Cincinnati Dog and the Seattle dog.
The Seattle dog was voted 2 to 1, the winner.
So, what was on the Seattle dog?
Invented in the 1980s by Pioneer Square vendor Hadley Long, the full-on Seattle dog comes with a toasted potato roll hot dog bun with a schmear of cream cheese, a grilled, all beef split hot dog, spicy brown mustard, caramelized onions, sriracha, and sliced fresh jalapenos.
Look, I’m sure it was awesome, but that’s just way too much for me. I admit the caramelized onions sound nice, and I would go for the spicy brown mustard, but that’s about it.
Still, congratulations are in order.
All hail the Seattle dog, Number one in the USA.
According to three people in New York.
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Hot Dog!
Gallery Credit: James Rabe