Wieners around the world - translating the hot dog

[rworange]

There have been many posts about hot dog regional differences. Here's just one

Hot Dogs Across America: What's regional to you?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/517949

How are hot dogs served outside the US?

I think many of us are familiar with the bacon-wrapped Mexican Sonoran dog
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26

I'm living in Guatemala and this country is hot dog crazy. There is the mixto ... hot dog on a tortilla.
http://antiguadailyphoto.com/2008/04/20/guatemalan-cuisine-mixtas/

There is the chevre - simple dog with mayo, mustard, katsup, picamas green chile sauce and ... if lucky .,. a side of chiltepe peppers ... tiny peppers the size of the head of a pin.
http://antiguadailyphoto.com/2007/06/20/

But the star is the shuco dog ... think a hot dog roll but food-long sub roll size ... lightly grill over coals with the hot dog. layer bun with guacamole, top with boiled cabbage (not kraut), onions and squiggle with mayo, mustard, catsup and green pacamas sauce. More info and links to photos here.

Guatemala City: Shuco Street … Who’s your shuco daddy?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/726383

That is the basic shuco. Then they go truly nuts and keep adding sutf until you get " La ballena or whale has 10 or 20 meat topings "
http://antiguadailyphoto.com/2006/07/11/guatemalan-cuisine-shucos-are-hotdogs/

While I was trying to find an article about the shuco, I came across this site which has photos of the hot dogs around the world.

The nine most interesting variations of a hot dog around the world.
http://offtrackplanet.com/tipsandadvicehowto/the-9-most-interesting-variations-of-a-hot-dog-around-the-world/

In Amsterdam, "The Stoner Dog is basically a pizza on top of a hot dog"

Brazil seems to take the same kitchen sink approach to hot dogs as hamburgers ... throwing everything on them such as chips, corn, eggs, etc, etc, etc

Italy slices the dog, puts it in a brioche roll and tops it with mayo

Koreans cover the dog with French fries

Sweden includes mashed potatoes, mustard, green mayo and tops it with shrimp salad ... that is just so wrong on so many levels.

Wikipedia lists how other countries serve the hot dog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog_...

A few from wiki

Alberta Canada: The Sumo Dog which is a 1/3 lb Hot Dog on a bun with Wasabi spread inside the bun, topped with Japanese Mayo, Pickled Ginger, and toasted sesame seeds.

France: The French 'hot dog' is a type of sandwich made using a frankfurter sandwiched in a length of baguette, topped with cheese and grilled.

Norway: . Local variations include a waffle instead of lompe, lingonberry jam instead of ketchup, sweet mustard (Bergbys) and sweet, brown goatcheese (brunost).

What other variations are there when the hot dog travels abroad?

[brucesw]

As a Swede (well, 25% anyway, and never been there) I take exception to the suggestion that a tunnbrödsrulle is just wrong. Maybe that's my gene's barking. Anyway, just recently discovered them and have been fixing them regularly, experimenting and I really like them.

BTW, the picture on the offtrackplanet site appears to be just a standard hot dog bun. Here's one I had tonight with a venison sausage showing the 'quilted, square tortilla' from IKEA.

[L987]

im from sweden and mostly if you eat a normal hotdog (in a bun) you just have mustard and ketchup but if you order a "tunnbrödsrulle" then you get a flatbred (kinda look lika a tortilla but has a softer texture) with mashed potatoes, a hotdog, ketchup and mustard, normal salad (like iceberg) and shripsalad (mayo-based)! I know it sounds discusting but its really good after a late night out...

[brucesw]

This apparently is the only mention of a tunnbrödsrulle here on CH! I just discovered them recently and have been experimenting (I'm one quarter Swedish). Sounded odd but not disgusting to me when I first encountered it - who knows if it's disgusting or wrong until you try it? - and I'm finding I really like it. If you're still around and see this, what is the green mayo? and any tips on the correct sausage? I can get tunnbröd at IKEA but my local one doesn't carry any Swedish sausages so I've been experimenting with a wide variety

The ingredients as listed on another forum: mashed potatoes, ketchup, mustard, some salad greens, pickled cucumbers, raksalad and sausage. Somewhere else I think I found a suggestion that ring bologna is basically the same thing as one of the sausages used in Sweden.

I found a recipe for raksalad which includes mayo, creme fraiche, dijon, ketchup and paprika + s & p.

Is there anything special about the mashed potatoes?

[c oliver]

Heading back to Rio in a couple of weeks and will check. I don't remember seeing hot dogs there. In Chile, they have the complete which I have had - for breakfast!!!

http://twofoodiebrothers.com/2010/05/...

[Passadumkeg]

New Jersey, the Dog Capital of the World, the Italian Dog, the ripper, the Texas Weiner, as HD stated above, dog are taken very seriously.
In my travels:
Norway, the polser, either in a top split bun or wrapped in lefsa, but my favorite topping was the rekker salat (shrimp salad), mayo, shrimp, small diced potatoes & carrot & a peas.
Finland, the nakki or much bigger makkara. My fave was 2 nakki in a lijha pirraka ( a sort of deep fried pastry filled w/ ground beef, rice & nutmeg). After a night of drinking, waiting for the tram, the street carts had grilli makkara, a large sausage, in a round roll w/ mustard. A great hangover preventer.
Bolivia the panchito, a small, red, spicy dog on a small roll, usually served w/ a line of ketchup and a line of may. Silpancho, French fries deep fried w/ big chunks of hot dog, again covered w/ ketchup and mayo.

Last Sat., in Albuquerque at BD&W (Burgers, Dogs & Wings), hot dogs w/ either red, green or Christmas chiles auce. I had the green and wifey had the Christmas.

[applehome]

Very cool stuff. Are you considering the hot dog to be just the "plain" fairly tasteless, super-fine ground sausage, and the variations to be based on add-ons, rather than actually considering the meat content and how the meat was made (grind, spices, smoked, natural casing, boiled/steamed, grilled), etc. I mean - are wursts in Germany part of the question? If so, an entire world opens up. Like the bunless currywursts - with curryketchup.

Bun technology is important. I first saw the wurst vendor carts in Germany in the 70's with the center-hole-making-toasting thing, which I never saw again until a No Reservations show in Hawaii of all places - this hot dog restaurant used the same machines. But the idea is good, whoever is using it. You push the roll (a big one, not the NE style small top-split buns) onto a spike that is a toaster - creating the cavity (a big hole) and toasting it from the inside on out. This place in Hawaii had all kinds of options for toppings which you inserted in to the hole prior to the weiner.

[rworange]

I was thinking the tasteless frank with toppings rather than various types of sausage.

However, all are welcome. I can't really exclude other types of sausage since the Guatemalan dogs, with the exception of the chevre, often have a choice of type of sausage.

My thought is that the plain old hot dog gets so many condiments for just the reason you mentioned ... it can be tasteless. That seems particularily true in Latin America with dogs not raising above the level of Fud brand which is similar to those cheapo 99 cent packages of Bar S or generic hot dogs in the US. These countries seem to put more thought into sausages such as chorizo.

I thought your comment on German sausage was interesting and decided to start another topic on that.

There are more than 1500 different types of sausage in Germany ... Discuss
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/726544

[grayelf]

Here in Vancouver BC we are the proud recipients of the Japadog, beloved of Bourdain, Ice Cube, Arnie and hundreds of people who line up for them every day at the several street carts and one bricks-and-mortar outlet (and also me, if truth be known): http://www.japadog.com/en/

My all time favourite way to eat a hot dog is split lengthwise on top of a burger. Does that count?

[paulj]

Some homemade Japadog copies at:
http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com/20...

[hotdoglover]

Excellent post, rworange. I like reading about the different types of hot dogs and the many topping combinations that are popular within a particular region even though I only have mustard on my dog 90% of the time. To me the actual frankfurter; it's flavor, spicing, and method of preparation are of primary importance. Topping are secondary and often mask the flavor of a great piece of meat.

I live in New Jersey where frankfurters are taken seriously. We have excellent regional producers and small butcher shop/pork stores that make wonderful high quality frankfurters. A great blend of spices and whole cuts (not trimmings) of expensive beef and/or beef and pork. I play around with grilling, griddling, and deep frying. Sometimes I heat in water before grilling. Combine the different cooking methods with the many high quality franks available, and I have all the variety I need without going crazy with toppings.

[rworange]

I grew up in Connecticut which also has (had?) great dogs. It was a similar experience where they didn't have many toppings because the quality of the frank.

[paulj]

Not exactly the frank on a bun, but I've read that curry-wurst is particularly popular in Germany. I think it is some sort of sausage eaten with a curry flavored ketchup.

I believe salichipapas, hot dogs with fries, started in Peru, but has spread to Ecuador, Columbia and probably further
http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/05/10/salchipapas/
http://mylifeinperu.com/2010/05/12/pe...

[ChristinaMason]

Yep. The Currywurst is actually a Bratwurst, aka, Thuringer. http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_...

It is not a hot dog, however, which is (not surprisingly) "Wiener" in German. Those are eaten with the bare hands, dipped in mustard and maybe ketchup, with a soft white roll or fries on the side.

[FrankD]

Had one of those in Vienna. It's actually very practical (although the only topping offered at this particular cart was mustard) in that the toppings are trapped in the bun, and don't end up on the front of your shirt.

[wenster]

We also had the hot-dog-in-bread-hole experience in Vienna on our honeymoon last year... definitely practical, totally hysterical to watch my husband's face when they poked the hole in the bread... but probably a tad too much bread by the end of the snarfing. (Then again, it might be because we felt completely sick eating hot dogs AND the five million fabulous pastries they have there)

[FrankD]

And the eiskaffee to follow that! My wife isn't a huge fan of middle European mains, but she loves their desserts - she bought five Sachertortes to bring home!

[wenster]

Good thing I didn't offer that to my husband- he would have chucked our clothes and filled our luggage with sachertorte and pastries!