Monday, September 3, 2007

What can I do to make a hot dog taste better?

What can I do to make a hot dog taste better?
I saw this on Yahoo! main page and was instantly attracted to it, but looking at all the answers, I was very disappointed. This is mainly an American asking other Americans, or North Americans, what they think, and well, let's just say that Americans aren't the best connoisseurs in the world.

For one, I prefer the German type of sausages where the best ones are made using pork, so to the hell with those who say that the best are the all-beef types. *deh deh deh* The pork should be minced enough not to be coarse, but yet solid enough to have the munchy taste. Herbs should be added in liberally and consistently. The sausage skin should be thick enough to provide taste but not too thick that it becomes to chewy. The best kind of sausages should be caterpillar cut and well grilled, not too burnt, but need to have a bit of the burnt marks. Traditional German toppings are onions and mustard. Go with the mustard, it combines well with the pork and herbs, and no, no ketchup and no chilli sauce. Currywurst and its curry sauce is not like the curry sauce we are familiar with, it's not spicy at all. Sauerkraut is not a topping but a side dish, so no sauerkraut on top, and since I don't eat onions, I go plain with mustard. Cheese is also not a topping but a filling. Cheese sausages should have cheese inside the sausage and not on top of it.

Most Americans call for a soft hot dog bread to go with a hot dog, but in Germany, and how I'd like my bread to go with the sausage, is to have it with a kaiser roll. It's a crusty roll, with soft dough inside not unlike a french loaf but it's small and round like a rugby ball shape but it fits snugly in the palm. It's a pity we can't get that in Singapore, or at least no real nice ones. Either that or just have the sausage on its own!

Of course, one would need to think that he is enjoying the meal to actually enjoy it.

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