Trivia Junction

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How Americans Eat Hot Dogs

Not Dijon. Not honey. Not grainy.

When it comes to dressing up our hot dogs, Americans prefer plain yellow mustard. Consider it the little black dress of the wiener world.

As a nation, we wolf down more than 7 billion hot dogs each summer, 150 million of them over the July 4 holiday.

Sixty percent of us want our dogs grilled, and 32 percent want to accessorize with nothing more than a squiggle of the yellow stuff, according to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, whose job it is to keep track of such things.

From there, however, the unity ends, and the kind of dogs we eat and the way we jazz them up get territorial.

More poultry dogs are eaten in the West than anywhere else in the country. Midwesterners have a lock on pork and beef hot dogs. Southerners rarely turn their noses up at a corn dog, and Easterners eat more all-beef dogs than residents of any other region.

As far as frank finery goes, hot dogs in Kansas City get all decked out with sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese. New Yorkers want their dogs dressed with steamed onions and pale yellow mustard, unless they're having a beefy Coney Island chili dog.

And if it's not fried in cornmeal on a stick, a dog in the South is likely to be “dragged through the garden” – that is, topped with crunchy, creamy coleslaw.

Among the most fashionable – some might say garish – regional variations is the Chicago-style dog. Cloaked in a poppy-seed bun, the dawg is dressed in layers of mustard, raw onions, relish of a green not found in nature, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, sport peppers and a sprinkling of celery salt.

“People do take their hot dogs very seriously,” said Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council. “We conducted a poll last year, asking 1,000 Americans which city has the best hot dog. New York edged out Chicago, and Chicago went nuts.”

Riley's office was flooded with mail and phone calls taking exception to the poll's findings. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote an editorial inquiring, essentially, who was idiotic enough to think that a New York dog is better than a Chicago dog.

“Next to pizza, there isn't this big a food rivalry,” Riley said.

Diamond dogs

And what would attending a summer baseball game be without chowing down on a frankfurter or two? Here again, the lines are clearly drawn.

The L.A. Dodgers have their Dodger Dogs. The Boston Red Sox have the Fenway Frank. Milwaukee Brewers fans cleave loyally to the Secret Stadium Sauce served warm on their brats at Miller Park. And Stadium Mustard, served at the Coliseum in Richfield, was the exclusive hot dog condiment of Cleveland Indians games for many years.

This year, the Diego Dog made its debut at Petco Park. Creators of the wiener hope to make it as much a signature dish as other ballpark dogs are across the country. The grilled bratwurst comes dressed in a special bun and is topped with slightly steamed cabbage, pico de gallo and a secret mustard-based sauce.

The Diego Dog has received a mostly positive reception, said Dave Levey, operations manager for DNC Sportservice at Petco Park. The hot dog may evolve over time, but for now, it will remain the same to give people a chance to become familiar with it, he said.

The Diego Dog sells exclusively at Petco Park in the back of the Mercado and at Power Alley on the lower right field.

“It's something we have been working on like crazy,” said Levey. “We wanted a hot dog that would be uniquely identified with Petco Park.”

Examining the traits of other ballpark dawgs, chefs and great minds collaborated, dismissing concoctions that seemed too much like Chicago's or other cities'.

“We had native San Diegans and out-of-towners working on this,” Levey said. “A Chicago-style hot dog does not tell me that it is from San Diego.”

After several trips to the drawing board, they finally hit upon a dog with flavors that are quintessential San Diego – those of the fish taco.

“We looked at ideas that embody the city,” Levey said. “San Diego needs spiciness and salsa. When they put it (the final Diego Dog) in front of me, I said, 'Yes, this is what we want.' ”

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