Today, July 18
th
, is National Hot Dog Day. I love
the idea of a nationwide holiday in which we set aside an entire day to pay
homage to tubular meats. I mean that’s pretty damn American, wouldn’t you say? What better way to
celebrate than by shuffling downtown and paying a visit to The Hot Dog Peddler
to score a dog?
That’s exactly what Britta and I decided to do however, we had
a few issues deciding on which hot dog to choose. We remedied this situation by
ordering a total of FOUR hotdogs so we could find out which one was best.
Actually, we started with three; a bacon cheese dog, a
Chicago dog, and a mac and cheese dog. All three of these were delicious, and
surprisingly filling. In fact, they were more than enough to satisfy our hot
dog cravings for the day. A couple of “sane” people would have stopped at this point.
However, I noticed as we were about to leave that The
Hot Dog Peddler had two specialty dogs listed on a separate sign. One was a
grilled cheese dog and the other was a Cuban. What? We hadn’t even noticed these
when we first ordered. Now, I love Cuban sandwiches to no end so this had my curiosity
peaked. I also am a big fan of grilled cheese so I decided that this clearly
merited further investigation. I bounded back towards the vender.
I asked the young employee working the stand that day which he would recommend.
He told us that the Cuban was his favorite. Alrighty then, a Cuban it is. A few
moments later our order was up and Britta and I took turns taking bites and
commenting on the complexities of this particular hot dog. The weiner was split
down the middle and then laid flat on the bread, which was toasted flat like a Panini.
It had swiss cheese, pickles and mustard… much like a Cuban sandwich. I was
transported, via my taste buds, to my recent trip to Florida where I ate
NUMEROUS Cuban sandwiches. This was a very novel and inventive way to present
an old classic. In fact, I’d say that it was my favorite of the day.
If you’re
downtown today and get a chance to roll by The Hot Dog Peddler, I would highly
recommend the Cuban, although honestly, you can’t really go wrong with any of
their dogs. But why stop there? There are a TON of great food trucks and restaurants downtown and throughout Fargo that can serve you up a delicious hot dog. What a perfect way to celebrate this nation’s perfect holiday. Happy Hot Dog Day… now go pick a weiner!
-Scotch
