There are thousands of hot dog vendor carts like this one in NYC, but even if you order your hotdog in a flawless American accent, the toppings you choose can still betray you as a visitor straight away. Take note: the usual condiments for NYC street, deli and ball park hotdogs are mustard and sauerkraut, with optional onions and tomato sauce. Delicious, right?
Cross the River into New Jersey though, and they’ll serve your (usually deep-fried) hot dog in round pizza bread topped with fried onions, capsicums and crisp-fried potato chunks - like this magnificent bastard from www.roadfood.com:
Take the train to Washington DC and you'll have a Monumental Dog, an all-beef sausage in a potato bun with mayonnaise, banana peppers, onions, capsicum and sliced pickles.
But for real hotdog snobbery, forsake the east coast and take a side trip to my beloved Chicago. If you try and put ketchup on top of a Chicago dog, they'll give you the stink eye (true story). But who needs ketchup anyway, when your Chicago hotdog (Vienna Beef, of course) comes in a steamed poppy seed bun topped with chopped onion, diced tomatoes, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, yellow mustard, hot peppers AND celery salt?
Wherever and however you eat them, hot dog consumption is best done in stretchy pants, every time.
