The Humble Hot Dog

It’s day 18 of the Stay-at-Home order.

Oddly, I don’t find that I’m missing driving the 150 miles a day to and from my “normal” job. And I don’t think I’ve spent this much time with my wife since we were both in the US Army and worked in the same unit. That would be about 35 years ago.

This week has been a little rough, it’s been raining for the last five days. Now if you live in Seattle, WA. that would be a normal week, however if you reside in the middle of the mighty Mojave Desert, it’s a bit unusual. To put it simply, it sucks.

I’ve binge watched some TV, got to re-watch the movie “Yesterday” (I saw it on the plane to the UK, loved it, I highly recommend it).

After improving my tan using exposure to the electric glow of computer/video screens, I even picked up an actual book. You know, those old-fashioned things with pages that you physically turn to continue reading. And to boot, they’re radiation free.

For some reason (maybe hunger caused by the unprecedented and unnecessary depletion of foodstuffs from the local store), I picked up my copy of “The Hamburger” by Josh Ozersky, my favorite food writer.

In his definitive tome of the history of the simple meat sandwich, he disperses with popular myths, delves deep into history and gives us a thorough understanding of how ground beef on a bun became the defining cuisine of America.

Ozersky briefly mentions the other contender for the fast food heart of America, the humble hot dog.

Josh dismisses the hot dog, as well as the Philly Cheese steak, the Dagwood and the Ruben as mere afterthoughts in the march of American fast food hierarchy.

Walt Disney World has a pretty acceptable burger when we visited in 2015 

I would never think to disagree with the ultimate meat oracle, but  I have my own thoughts about the “All American” hot dog, which I’ll share in the next couple of posts (hint one – it’s not American).