In Season: Hot Dogs
Beasts, rippers, and sea dogs + a recipe for potato-brioche-ish buns
Richard Scarry
This month, Roll-Os Dairy Bar had a pop-up with Superiority Burger at Bread and Salt serving ‘Italian hot dogs.’ Even though Théo was a bit hot-dogged-out from the ones we had eaten in preparation for this newsletter (more on that below), after double-dog-daring him he agreed to join me - we would share just one. As he pulled the dog out of the foil, he exclaimed: “That’s not a hot dog, that’s a beast!” In his hand, he held a half moon of pizza bread, sliced down the middle and stuffed with a large sausage, weighing more than the two hot dogs we had split the day prior. The sausage had a schmear of mustard, was topped with plenty of peppers and onions (sweet and a little vinegary), and also a mound of fried potatoes (not to be confused with fries, these are “HEAVY and WET”). We scarfed the whole thing down, it was delicious. It was indeed–contrary to Théo’s comment–a hot dog.
The Italian hot dog originated in an Italian-American neighborhood of Newark, NJ, in 1932. Just a few years prior (‘28) and a few miles north (Clifton), Rutt’s Hut invented the “ripper,” a deep fried hot dog topped with their famous secret relish; a recipe from Royal Rutt’s German mother. Nearby in Paterson, just a decade earlier, the “hot Texas wiener” was born. It’s topped with mustard, raw onion, and saltsa kima (a Greek meat sauce spiced with cinnamon and clove).
Road tripping around New Jersey
There are so many things to love about the hot dog. It’s casual, it’s delicious, it’s handheld, etc. But here, the hot dog is also a perfectly American metaphor: a German sausage, topped with a Greek sauce, deep-fried, and then named ‘Texas.’
Despite the fact that all of these hot dogs are neighbors to one another, originating within a 12-mile radius, they could not be more distant cousins. Looking at each of them–the Italian dog piled high with potatoes, fried peppers and onions; the Texan with raw onions and meat sauce; and the ripper rippling with relish and mustard–they all still belong to the same family. That family is sausage in bread.
Find below: delicious-doggy-destinations (across NY and NJ), our favorite weenies to prepare at home (from grocery stores to local butchers), other foods best served sandwiched in a bun, and a banging recipe for potato-brioche-ish buns (with a sourdough option).
On the Moodboard
Hot dogs on battenberg lace for the after-party of my wedding + a basket of wieners on battenberg lace at a garden party I catered. Meats from The Meat Hook, the best sausage makers I know.
“The best example of roadside architecture in the state” + “I know people think I spend my time on the high road, just hot dogging it around in cars, but frankly, that’s a lot of bologna”
