I’ve had an on again/off again relationship with hot dogs.  When I was young, I loved them.  Then something happened (maybe too many burned dogs on the grill?) that made me not so excited about them during my teens.  Well, it’s pretty obvious that the relationship is back.

One of my life’s goals is now the pursuit of the perfect hot dog.  We’ve had the Chicago dog, the Pink’s Hollywood dog, the Carolina dog (mustard, chili, onions, bright red hot dog), the Nathan’s dirty-water dog (Oak has perfected the famous red onion sauce at home! ding), so I felt it was finally time to go back to my hot dog roots, the Zweigles dog.

Zweigles are a uniquely Rochesterian brand of hot dog – I’ve never seen them outside that region until we discovered that a Wegman’s is now open off the Woodbridge/Potomac Mills Mall exit on I-95.  So, when we found them, of course we had to get some (along with the delicious Chinese food buffet! mm! ).

Now, one of the charms of the Zweigles dog is that they are a “pop-open hot” (oh yeah, in R-town you call it a “hot” instead of a “hot dog”).  For some reason, I had remembered a vision of a hot dog splitting clear down the middle, but when Oak cooked them they were more like blistery split open.  Maybe we got the wrong kind?  Or, my parents cut my hot dog in half?  I have no idea.

Either way, that was a good dog.  We even had some Nick Tahou-esque hot sauce on them (which, is basically the “chili” that is put on hot dogs in the South, but more spicy).  Next we need to try to make a Chicago dog at home… any sources on neon green relish??

Posted by Carrie on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Categories: food · 2 Comments »