Here’s a hot dog stand just outside the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The Museum was doing a special exhibition on the real Rembrandt and I was thinking about the “real” hot dog. Exactly why these dogs in both Holland and Denmark are credited to Americans is somewhat mysterious. Most of the stands utilize a canned hot dog for starters. These weiners tend to be mushy. The condiments, which include crunchy fried onion/garlic tidbits, are weird, and the buns are often an odd-looking piece of cut bread. The best cities for street hot dogs (not brats or other “high-end” sausages) are New York City, Chicago and Toronto, period.
I hear they still have horse butcher shops in Amsterdam. A lot of it ends up in sausages.
With fried onion and all, that are the most similar experience to an american hotdog that you can get in Europe. In Wien you only get a big hotdog with baguette bread and mustard. So when I was in amsterdam I enjoyed the hotdog as if were real american hotdog.
Reminds me of how, after growing up in Canada, I had to come to the US to have real Canadian Bacon. It was nothing like what I had in Canada.
I agree, Toronto and Chicago have the best hot dogs. Toronto uses a cold sauerkraut while in the mid-west they heat their kraut. Same thing but totally different taste. I haven’t tasted the New York versions, though I have noticed they eat a lot of them on Law and Order.
“Toronto uses a cold sauerkraut while in the mid-west they heat their kraut”
No real Chicago hot dog place uses sauerkraut. The Chicago dog
gets: mustard, relish, cucumber salt, diced fresh onion, peppers,
and a pickel slice, and that is IT. Unless you get a cheese dog.
NY street dogs (the one from the carts) are basically slightly spicy bologna, that are “cooked” (actually more heated) in hot water. They are eaten with a standard hotdog bun, mustard, and optionally sauerkraut or steamed sweet-onions in a tomato-ey type sauce. No other toppings are generally available (cept ketchup).
Affectionately known, in NYC as “dirty water dogs”.
As to the ketchup thing, NY has a very strict rule. If the meat is smoked, such as bologna, pastrami, sausage, etc. you have it with mustard. Mayo or ketchup is generally frowned upon, and definitely points you out to being either from out of town or under the age of 12.
To be honest, I’m not really sure why this is the case, and it is somewhat wierd, since it is perfectly acceptable to go into a jewish style deli and order a pastrami on rye with mustard, with a side order of coleslaw (mayo), and french fries (using ketchup, of course).
Just my NY 2cents.
Actually, I have not had a decent hot dog in the US, ever. The best hot dogs I have ever eaten were in Caracas, Venezuela 25 years ago. The vendors would slightly steam the bread so it was nice and soft. The hot dogs were not burned or dried out. They were nice, juicy and moist. You could sit there next to a stand and in the space of a few minutes eat 10 of the best hot dogs you could ever eat. Those were the days.
Now, New York has the best pretzels and Pizza you can find in the anywhere.
The best wieners come in casings, preferably natural, not the skinless types. The thing should snap apart when you bite it. I have a local sausage company that makes a good wiener. They do put a bit too much garlic powder in the mix. I do realized that replying to any post concerning wieners puts you at risk for sexual double entendre.
I almost got into a fight with a New York City hotdog vendor one time. He must have been new. I asked for a hotdog “with everything on it.” He put musturd, saurkraut and onions–AND ketchup! He blashpemed the hotdog by putting the red condiment on it. In anger, I took the hotdog, turned it over and placed the top side of the dog on the city street and hollared, “now that’s everything on it!” *
footnote:
*I pulled a Jonathon Frey on this last line.:-)
Chicago has great hot dogs, but we don’t really have many street vendors with carts, which I believe is a more NY thing. We have hot dog stands, small little huts and places tucked into larger buidlings.
I would correct the gentleman who described the Chicago style hot dog by saying they have celery salt, not cucumber salt, and they also have a tomato slice or diced tomato. The peppers are tiny whole sport peppers that I’ve never seen used for anything else. Vienna beef is the dog of choice and a poppy seed bun seals the deal.
In some Chicago venues you also find a slice of cumcumber along with a slice of pickle. I find this to be a great addition. I’m going to eventually launch a wiki that will isolate all the Chicago-style hot dog stands at O’Hare. There must be 30 or 40 of them. When I pass through O’Hare I generally head to one of my favs.
I have Chicago buddies that that will track you down and hurt you if you put ketsup on a hot dog…..lol
I LOVE dirty water dogs….they have a taste that is just perfect.
There is nothing like an American hot dog in Europe, they don’t seem to know how to make them. They make sausages to die for, but can’t make a hot dog…..go figure.
I don’t know about hot dogs in Amsterdam, but as a native dane I was completely disappointed with hotdogs in both New York and Chicago. They were horrible. But then, I probably didn’t know the right place.
In Copenhagen, street stalls have a variety of hotdogs. Cooked or fried, and different types of bread and toppings. My favorite is “Ristet hotdog med ristede løg og det hele”. Which is a fried sausage which should be served with katchup, mustard (two types – sweet and hot), remoulade (a type of mayonaise), fried crispy onions and pickled cucumbers.
Try them when in town. They are the best I have tried anywhere in the world.