The Great American Hot Dog



Crown Roast of Wienies

 I've been thinking a lot about hot dogs recently.  It started last week when I went to see a "Kooza," a Cirque du Soleil performance that is traveling through Dallas right now.  I am always really careful about what I eat--I read labels, log daily calories and nutrition, avoid desserts--but the show was a matinee, I was at a circus, and the shrieks of excited kids and smell of stale, buttery popcorn was permeating the air so I had a hot dog. 

Since I once lived in Chicago my standard for a hot dog is fairly high.  I like the all beef kind (the ones made of cast off parts from three different animals are difficult for me to think about) hot off the grill with onions and relish and mustard and ketchup cradled in a fresh, soft bun.  What I got at Cirque was a slightly warm, red tube steak which had been slapped between two separate pieces of stale bread and wrapped in a foil pouch several days prior.  It was worse than a drive-in movie concession stand hot dog, if you can imagine that.

Speaking of drive-ins, my mom used to boil hot dogs at home and then put them in a large thermos along with some of the hot water from the sauce pan.  When it was time to eat she'd extract them with a long fork and fix them up with condiments she kept in a compartmentalized lunch box.  Her cleverness and parsimony (we were a one-income, very large family) made those dogs taste delicious.  (She also used to wrap cheese sandwiches in foil and then iron them while starching my dad's shirts--but that's another blog post.)

I probably won't be having another hot dog this year since I used my cheat card already.  But next year, when the wienie urge presents itself, I am going to pick my place and time to insure the reward is worth the risk.  When you allow yourself an indulgence, you don't want to be even slightly disappointed.  I think  those of us in the restaurant business need to remind ourselves that most of our customers are celebrating or dating or marking a personal milestone, and we need to remain mindful that every detail has to be perfect every time. 

Because frankly, anything less is no day at the circus.