So what is your homemade Chicago hotdog deal breaker?

Tonight I found myself in a quandary:

I had the Vienna beef hotdog, the tomatoes, the onions, the relish. I had no bun - substituted a slice of white bread, and I had no yellow mustard, I substituted dijon....it was okay but it was so wrong!

So that prompted me to wonder....what, in the world of the authentic Chicago hot dog, (homemade variety, mind you), would cause you to either say "it's still ok" (and please describe the alternatives you had accepted) or had caused you to say "No! NO NO NO! This cannot be called a Chicago Dog!"

Or is it just me??

I eagerly await your replies.

If I was faced with your situation, I would have used two slices of white bread, doubled over to become more bun-like.

I used to have poker games at my house, and I traditionally served dogs. At one of those games, the august Vital Information refused my French's mustard (which I thought very appropriate) and instead chose Grey Poupon (he didn't want the French's). This scarred me.

Your question, I'm afraid, is sure to scare up the pathologically obsessed anti-catsup lobby.

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Tonight I found myself in a quandary:

I had the Vienna beef hotdog, the tomatoes, the onions, the relish. I had no bun - substituted a slice of white bread, and I had no yellow mustard, I substituted dijon....it was okay but it was so wrong!

So that prompted me to wonder....what, in the world of the authentic Chicago hot dog, (homemade variety, mind you), would cause you to either say "it's still ok" (and please describe the alternatives you had accepted) or had caused you to say "No! NO NO NO! This cannot be called a Chicago Dog!"

Or is it just me??

I eagerly await your replies.

Eh, any kind of mustard is okay, although I'm a Plochmanns guy for this particular use. As long as it doesn't have ketchup, sauerkraut, cheese, etc., and as long as it's made from an all-beef dog, you're free to call it a Chicago dog.

Hey, Liz, anything you eat in the privacy of your home is fine by me, but did you serve this hot dog to guests? There lies the pickle of your quandary. Couldn't you at least managed a half-hearted shake of celery salt?

-ramon

I am a hot dog enthusiast and feel that people should have the right to put anything on their hot dogs - sans ketchup.

If i'm ordering a hotdog - unless it's from portillo's (who is oddly the only place that i order a "chicago style" from) i go minimalist style. When i was a small kid, i grew up in a vegetarian house hold. (side note* I remember the first time i had bacon - such a life experience that i shall prohibit my children from eating bacon until they reach the age that i can sit them down and they can verbalize their feelings with me while we try bacon for the first time together). So - i didn't have a meat-eating mentor growing up.

I started with ketchup on dogs. When i was 12 i ordered a hot dog with everything (chicago style) and it changed my hot dog eating life. I stayed with the chicago style (mustard, relish, onion, pickle spear, tomato, celery salt) for many years until i was introduced to the "minimalist" dog which, again, changed my hot dog eating life.

Minimalist is my final stage. It's the perfect hot dog. When i make them at home, i make hand cut, fresh fries. Steam some buns, then put mustard, relish, onion and sport peppers on there. Then i put the whole thing on a square or parchment paper and top it with a bunch of fries. Pinch of kosher salt, wrap it up tight, and thats the best dog you'll ever have.

I don't serve a dog any other way. If i don't have buns - i'll pick 'em up. If worse comes to worse - a plain dog, a dog with grilled or raw onions with mustard also are "acceptable" to me.

I also have a freezer full of 10/1lb natural casing dogs in my freezer - so i really plan out my dog nights.

David Hammond wrote:Your question, I'm afraid, is sure to scare up the pathologically obsessed anti-catsup lobby.

Not to mention the "cutting corners" lobby.

I feel like I'm missing something by not loving hot dogs that much. Are any of you fanatics from outside Chicago?

brandon_w wrote:I feel like I'm missing something by not loving hot dogs that much. Are any of you fanatics from outside Chicago?

I spent my first 22 years in Texas, and I love hot dogs, although I must admit, I didn't truly appreciate them until I moved to Chicago. Hot dogs in most of the rest of country are a pale imitation of what a dog should be.

BTW, I find it a bit funny that a dog with mustard, relish, onion and sport peppers would be called minimalist.

brandon_w wrote:I feel like I'm missing something by not loving hot dogs that much. Are any of you fanatics from outside Chicago?

Yeah, but I'm from NJ. So, one hot dog mecca to another.

at home I rarely go all out regarding all the ingredients of a "chicago style dog".

Typically:
mustards of some sort, onions(raw or grilled), jalapenos, kraut, giardinara, pickle, sometimes chili.

the hot dog has to be Best's Kosher, or Ill settle for hebrew national if I cant find Best's

My wife(from the Phillipines), actually likes mayo on her hot dogs at home,

but she know I will not be seen in public with her if she tried to order a dog with mayo at a hotdog stand(thats wosre than ketchup in my world).

jimswside wrote:My wife(from the Phillipines), actually likes mayo on her hot dogs at home,

but she know I will not be seen in public with her if she tried to order a dog with mayo at a hotdog stand(thats wosre than ketchup in my world).

I have some friends with a kid who eats about 1/2 a cup of miracle whip on each of his hot dogs.

I usually just put BBQ sauce and onions on mine (am I going to get shuned?). I don't know anyone who goes all out with the peppers, gardinare, etc.

I do enjoy chili-cheese dogs though. Although I was informed recently that it should be called a Coney dog. Is that right?

I think my hot dog knowledge needs to be improved.

brandon_w wrote:
I have some friends with a kid who eats about 1/2 a cup of miracle whip on each of his hot dogs.

This is going to be stuck in my head for quite a while.

EWWWWWWW!

Those who would choose to enjoy their dog with mayo or miracle whip (regardless of age, gender, or military status) should be ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper.
On a related note-I know a Chicago chef that requests mayo on Italian beef sandwiches. To their credit, Mr. Beef on several occasions refused to do it, and supplied the mayo on the side. You don't know horror until you witness the slathering of mayo on a beef. Made my lunch come crawling back up my throat...others present fainted dead away.

stewed coot wrote:Those who would choose to enjoy their dog with mayo or miracle whip (regardless of age, gender, or military status) should be ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper.
On a related note-I know a Chicago chef that requests mayo on Italian beef sandwiches. To their credit, Mr. Beef on several occasions refused to do it, and supplied the mayo on the side. You don't know horror until you witness the slathering of mayo on a beef. Made my lunch come crawling back up my throat...others present fainted dead away.

It always blows me away that so many care so much about how someone else consumes their food. I say vive la difference! I never tried dipping a french fry into mayo until I saw "Pulp Fiction". Now I eat them that way all the time. I find that dipping a french fry into ketchup is not to my taste, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge others whatever mode of consumption they might choose.

I do enjoy chili-cheese dogs though. Although I was informed recently that it should be called a Coney dog. Is that right?

While coney dogs are topped with a sauce that could be called a "chili-style" sauce, the differences between your run-of-the-mill chili cheese dog (say, a Portillos style) and Detroit/Flint style Coneys are pretty substantial.

Hi,

This is the recipe for Flint style sauce I made for the Greater Midwestern Foodways Alliance sausage program last September:

FLINT'S ORIGINAL CONEY SAUCE

1/2 lb. of beef kidney
1/2 lb. of beef heart
3 tbsp of paprika
2 tbsp of chili powder
1/4 cooking oil
salt to taste

Have your butcher grind kidney and heart.
Start by mixing all ingredients except oil in an adequately sized sauce pan. Since meat is very dry, slowly add oil before turning on heat.

Mix well over medium heat, and allow to simmer on low heat for about 45 min. May need to add more oil, since you do not want mixture to "fry dry".

Regards,

YoYoPedro wrote:

stewed coot wrote:Those who would choose to enjoy their dog with mayo or miracle whip (regardless of age, gender, or military status) should be ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper.
On a related note-I know a Chicago chef that requests mayo on Italian beef sandwiches. To their credit, Mr. Beef on several occasions refused to do it, and supplied the mayo on the side. You don't know horror until you witness the slathering of mayo on a beef. Made my lunch come crawling back up my throat...others present fainted dead away.

It always blows me away that so many care so much about how someone else consumes their food. I say vive la difference! I never tried dipping a french fry into mayo until I saw "Pulp Fiction". Now I eat them that way all the time. I find that dipping a french fry into ketchup is not to my taste, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge others whatever mode of consumption they might choose.

I think it might be an involuntary reflex. Some things just gross people out & there's no accounting for it. For example, I have a relative who works in a hospital lab. She has no problem talking about the various body parts she encounters throughout her day (example: "I had to go down to the morgue & get this amputated leg & cut it into slides") while at the dinner table. It doesn't bother her. I have a colleague at work who will, for example, go into great detail about the diarrhea she found in her boxer dog's cage the night before. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I try not to be seated for a meal with either of them, if at all possible.

A gross out is a gross out is a gross out.

Nobody is condemning anyone for it, it's just a personal preference.

BTW - I like mayo on fries too. Have you ever tried thousand island dressing on fries? Quite a nice combination!

Interestingly (to me, anyway), hot dogs aren't something that I think of as a prepare at home food. We did occasionally when I was a kid (my sister's method was to nuke them until the ends frayed like a party favor), but the couple of times I've tried recently, I've just been disappointed. Without that steam table magic, I'd just as soon have something else.

On the subject of unconventional toppings, there's a difference between respecting somebody's right to eat whatever they damn well please and understanding why they'd want to abuse their tastebuds so

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:

YoYoPedro wrote:

stewed coot wrote:Those who would choose to enjoy their dog with mayo or miracle whip (regardless of age, gender, or military status) should be ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper.
On a related note-I know a Chicago chef that requests mayo on Italian beef sandwiches. To their credit, Mr. Beef on several occasions refused to do it, and supplied the mayo on the side. You don't know horror until you witness the slathering of mayo on a beef. Made my lunch come crawling back up my throat...others present fainted dead away.

It always blows me away that so many care so much about how someone else consumes their food. I say vive la difference! I never tried dipping a french fry into mayo until I saw "Pulp Fiction". Now I eat them that way all the time. I find that dipping a french fry into ketchup is not to my taste, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge others whatever mode of consumption they might choose.

I think it might be an involuntary reflex. Some things just gross people out & there's no accounting for it. For example, I have a relative who works in a hospital lab. She has no problem talking about the various body parts she encounters throughout her day (example: "I had to go down to the morgue & get this amputated leg & cut it into slides") while at the dinner table. It doesn't bother her. I have a colleague at work who will, for example, go into great detail about the diarrhea she found in her boxer dog's cage the night before. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I try not to be seated for a meal with either of them, if at all possible.

A gross out is a gross out is a gross out.

Nobody is condemning anyone for it, it's just a personal preference.

BTW - I like mayo on fries too. Have you ever tried thousand island dressing on fries? Quite a nice combination!

I guess my feeling is that a personal preference would be that I won't eat something a certain way. It is awfully hard for me to be grossed out by how someone else eats THEIR food. I'm sure that "ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper" was just a figure of speech, but that kind of thing goes a little beyond personal preference into the realm of the "my way or the highway" school. Maybe I just tilt towards tolerance and rail against rigidity when it comes to food (and other things).

Hi,

My parents when left to their discretion over-stuff their hot dogs. Oh, they also like ketchup on their dog. It is really not too pretty to see their onion-mustard-pickle-relish-ketchup oozing out of the bun as they eat. Kids who grew up under the aura of The Depression, they always eat the debris left on their plates.

At home I am simply a mustard and onions girl. If on the rare chance we have Kaukauna Swiss-almond cheese spread in the fridge, then I make a cheese dog from it. There is no place like home for a Swiss-almond cheese dog, largely because it cannot be found anywhere else.

Regards,

Note to YoYoPedro:
Take what I say with a salt lick. I'm just layin' it on thick for a chuckle. I do find the mayo usage noted above (for dogs & beef) something I'm not interested in trying, and somewhat comical.
I haven't mayoed and feathered anyone... in years.

YoYoPedro wrote:

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:

YoYoPedro wrote:

stewed coot wrote:Those who would choose to enjoy their dog with mayo or miracle whip (regardless of age, gender, or military status) should be ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper.
On a related note-I know a Chicago chef that requests mayo on Italian beef sandwiches. To their credit, Mr. Beef on several occasions refused to do it, and supplied the mayo on the side. You don't know horror until you witness the slathering of mayo on a beef. Made my lunch come crawling back up my throat...others present fainted dead away.

It always blows me away that so many care so much about how someone else consumes their food. I say vive la difference! I never tried dipping a french fry into mayo until I saw "Pulp Fiction". Now I eat them that way all the time. I find that dipping a french fry into ketchup is not to my taste, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge others whatever mode of consumption they might choose.

I think it might be an involuntary reflex. Some things just gross people out & there's no accounting for it. For example, I have a relative who works in a hospital lab. She has no problem talking about the various body parts she encounters throughout her day (example: "I had to go down to the morgue & get this amputated leg & cut it into slides") while at the dinner table. It doesn't bother her. I have a colleague at work who will, for example, go into great detail about the diarrhea she found in her boxer dog's cage the night before. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I try not to be seated for a meal with either of them, if at all possible.

A gross out is a gross out is a gross out.

Nobody is condemning anyone for it, it's just a personal preference.

BTW - I like mayo on fries too. Have you ever tried thousand island dressing on fries? Quite a nice combination!

I guess my feeling is that a personal preference would be that I won't eat something a certain way. It is awfully hard for me to be grossed out by how someone else eats THEIR food. I'm sure that "ridiculed, mayoed and feathered, and banished from Chicago Proper" was just a figure of speech, but that kind of thing goes a little beyond personal preference into the realm of the "my way or the highway" school. Maybe I just tilt towards tolerance and rail against rigidity when it comes to food (and other things).

Vive le difference and also live & let live...for everybody!

stewed coot wrote:Note to YoYoPedro:
Take what I say with a salt lick. I'm just layin' it on thick for a chuckle. I do find the mayo usage noted above (for dogs & beef) something I'm not interested in trying, and somewhat comical.
I haven't mayoed and feathered anyone... in years.

No worries. I always thought that eating bugs was something I wasn't interested in trying. But then when I tried them, lo and behold, I actually thought they were quite tasty. Same thing happened with sushi, although it was many moons ago. The idea of eating raw fish was something that nearly turned my stomach. Now I can't get enough of it. And mayo, grilled onions and Dijon mustard on a nice toasted bun with a thick juicy bratwurst, mmmmm, that's eatin'!

No buns, no dog. I don' t make hot dogs at home. When my son was little, for convenience we would make an oscar meyer hot dog in a bun with ketchup. This is not a Chicago hot dog. For that we would go out to get.

YoYoPedro wrote:I always thought that eating bugs was something I wasn't interested in trying. But then when I tried them, lo and behold, I actually thought they were quite tasty.

What kind of bugs do you like?

I think the problem most people have besides obvious gross-out issues, is when it comes to tipping the balance too far in one direction with similar taste sensations. To me, dipping already greasy fries into mayo sounds tantamount to an IV lard injection. I've seen people put 4 tsps sugar into a cup of coffee. Same thing to me as the fries/mayo effect.

Cogito wrote:

YoYoPedro wrote:I always thought that eating bugs was something I wasn't interested in trying. But then when I tried them, lo and behold, I actually thought they were quite tasty.

What kind of bugs do you like?

I think the problem most people have besides obvious gross-out issues, is when it comes to tipping the balance too far in one direction with similar taste sensations. To me, dipping already greasy fries into mayo sounds tantamount to an IV lard injection. I've seen people put 4 tsps sugar into a cup of coffee. Same thing to me as the fries/mayo effect.

The grasshoppers at La Oaxaquena come to mind...

As far as dipping greasy fries into mayo being a lard injection, if I was a stickler against IV lard injections, I might never order another Kuma's creation. And I'll guarantee that I can't stop eating bacon & cheese topped burgers. Which I enjoy with mayo on them...

I drink my coffee black, no sugar or dairy products, please. But others can enjoy theirs any way they please, and it won't gross me out. Or even get a sideways glance.

How are those 'hoppers prepared?

Cogito wrote:How are those 'hoppers prepared?

I believe that they are either sauteed or fried, it's hard for me to tell which. With a considerable amount of both heat (chiles) and salt added, chopped into little bits and used almost like a condiment. I sprinkled them on some tortilla chips. They were a little too salty when I tried them all by themselves. And I like things quite salty. My girlfriend thought they were too salty even when used as a seasoning or condiment.

I'd like to try some bugs, but more as a side dish or entree than a condiment. Anyone have any suggestions? Serious suggestions, that is.

Joys of Eating the Road Less Traveled at Sticky Rice
I've been wanting to do this, myself - though not all at once (or maybe they'd do appetizer-size portions?)