GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - One of the most popular fast foods, after hamburgers and pizzas, has to be the highly underrated hot dog, which even has its own day - International Hot Dog Day - which is celebrated on Wednesday, July 20.
Hot dogs are purely an American invention and while the sausages used are German in origin, nobody thought to put them in a bun until they began to catch on in popularity in America.
Most people credit Charles Feltman, a German immigrant who ran a hugely successful restaurant on Coney Island, with being the first to sell hot dogs in 1870, but a couple of other contenders exist as well. The most popular alternate theory claims that a Bavarian immigrant named Anton Feuchtwanger sold hot sausages on the streets of St. Louis and included a roll for customers to hold the sausage to prevent them from burning their fingers.
As for the term “hot dog”, there are several myths and legends around that as well. One theory goes that because the sausages were thin and long, vendors took to calling them “dachshund sausages”, which evolved into “hot dog.” Another posits that the name was created by students at Yale University in the 1890s who referred to the wagons selling hot sausages in buns outside their dorms as “dog wagons” and the wares therefore as “hot dogs”.
In more recent news Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut gobbled his way to a 15th win at the recently held Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in the US, powering down 63 hot dogs in only 10 minutes. It was less than the 76 he consumed last year but he did have to stop for a few minutes to put an interloper into a headlock before security took over!
The women’s record-holder, Miki Sudo, downed 40 to win the women’s title after skipping last year’s contest because she was pregnant.
Finally - the world’s longest hot dog with both a contiguous sausage and bun was made in Paraguay in 2011, to commemorate its 200th anniversary as a country. At 204 metres long, making the record-breaking sausage was the easy part, but to make the bun, the entire raw dough bun had to be fed by conveyor belts through an oven. After the measurement was taken, the hot dog was cut into 2,000 portions and distributed to the public.
Back home, we asked two students at Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Cape Town campus for their favourite hot dog toppings and here’s what they sent us:
Brazilian Inspired Hot Dog
Leonilson Ferreira, studying for the Assistant Chef Programme, sent the recipe for his Brazilian Inspired Hot Dog.
Ingredients
For the rolls
- 100g white bread flour
- 1½g yeast
- 2g salt
- 8g sugar
- 40ml milk
- 8g butter (softened)
- 25ml water
- Egg for brushing
- Butter for brushing
For the toppings
- 2 American hot dogs
- 100g beef mince
- 30g tinned sweetcorn
- 5ml tomato paste
- 1ml fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 20g onion, finely chopped
- 20g tomato, chopped
- 20g red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- 3ml mustard
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 10g coriander, finely chopped
- 10ml lemon juice
- 40g potatoes, finely julienned
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Oil for frying
Method
For the rolls:
- In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
- Add milk and butter.
- Add water gradually until the right consistency is achieved.
- The dough should be soft, well incorporated and not sticking to your hands.
- Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it is nice and smooth. Rub a little oil in the bottom of the bowl, place in the dough, cover and set aside for at least 60 minutes until it doubles its size.
- Once doubled in size, punch it down, cut it into half and shape the hot dog rolls. Place the rolls in a greased baking pan, cover and set aside until they double in size again.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Once doubled in size, brush the rolls with egg wash and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
- When they come out of the oven, brush them over with butter for a nice shiny crust. Place them on a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
For the toppings:
- In a bowl, season the mince with salt and pepper and use your hands to combine well.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes. In a hot pan, add the oil and fry the mince until it is cooked through, stirring all the time to break all chunky balls that might form while cooking.
- The intention is to brown the meat a little for more flavour.
- Add the corn and thyme, stirring constantly. Add the tomato paste and mix until well incorporated. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, whisk egg yolk and mustard.
- Slowly pour in the veg oil while whisking. Once emulsified, add a splash of lemon juice together with salt, pepper, and a third of the chopped coriander. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine chopped onion, tomato, red pepper and the rest of the coriander.
- Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside. In a pan, add enough oil for deep frying. Get the oil to a temperature of 150ºC and deep fry the potatoes until a pale golden colour.
- Place them on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
- In a frying pan, sauté the hot dog sausages until brown. Slice bread lengthwise without separating the two sides.
- Spread a thin layer of the homemade mayo on both sides, and place sautéed sausage, mince and salsa. Squeeze a bit more mayo on top and garnish with the potatoes chips and chopped coriander.
Serve with homemade mayo on the side for dipping. Enjoy!
Hotdog with Mexican Corn Salad, Parmesan and Potato Sticks!
Cristiana Caldeira, currently enrolled in the school’s Professional Chef Course sent her recipe for a Hotdog with Mexican Corn Salad, Parmesan and Potato Sticks!
Ingredients
- 6 hot dog sausages
- 6 hot dog rolls
- 1 can of whole kernel corn
- 2 tbs olive oil
- ½ red capsicum, finely chopped
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ avocado, chopped
- ½ cup feta, diced
- 6 spring onions, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, diced
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbs sour cream
- 2 tbs mayonnaise
Method
- Heat the oil in a frying pan.
- Drain and rinse the corn.
- Add the corn to the pan and wait for the kernels to pop, around 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and cool down. Meanwhile, in a bowl, add the red capsicum, red onion, avocado, feta, spring onion and jalapeño and the corn and the lime juice.
- Mix together. In a separate bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream and spices.
- Toss this dressing over the salad and mix well until all the ingredients are lightly coated with the dressing. Heat the hot dog sausages in a pot of boiling water or in the microwave.
- Slice each roll lengthways across the top and insert the sausage.
Top with the salad, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and garnish with potato sticks!
For more information on Capsicum Culinary Studio, visit www.capsicumcooking.co.za
Cristiana Caldeira, currently enrolled in the school’s Professional Chef Course sent her recipe for a Hotdog with Mexican Corn Salad, Parmesan and Potato Sticks!
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