It seems like everything has a ‘National Day’.
I’m writing this on July 23, which is apparently National Lemon Day.
Also Gorgeous Grandma Day and National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.
July 24 is National Drive-Thru Day, National Cousins Day, National Tequila Day and the always popular National Thermal Engineer Day.
Note I’m finding these (is there a National Looking Up National Days Day?) on a U.S.-based website, but we in Canada seem to piggyback off many of these, so it’s almost more of an international thing.
I somehow missed last Wednesday as being National Hot Dog Day. Most likely because I was devoting too much attention to National Peach Ice Cream Day or National Wrong Way Corrigan Day.
But I’m pretty sure hot dogs will be OK, given they seem to basically have the entire month of July as a showcase event.
In addition to their own day, they of course have July 4, which is always the day for Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
What’s more entertaining than men and women stuffing dozens of hot dogs down their gullet in a short period of time?
This year there was also controversy surrounding the event, after legendary champion eater Joey Chestnut was banned from the event, reportedly after he agreed to a sponsorship deal with a company that makes plant-based hot dogs, a competitor to Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs.
The horror.
But as it’s prone to do, controversy surrounding exceptionally important world news events got me to thinkin’, and spurred on some interesting conversations.
Now, I enjoy hot dogs but as I get older and try to pay slight attention to what I should and should not eat, they’re no longer a staple.
I never really cared what went into them (beaks and backsides is a slightly sanitized version of the explanation my grandpa always gave).
As long as they tasted good, that was fine.
And my preference remains pretty straightforward.
Dog, ketchup, regular bun. That’s it. If carmelized onions are available, all aboard.
Always best on the barbecue and the single-best venue is the ballpark. Failing that, hot dog day at school with your Mum running the show.
That always meant there were going to be leftovers and you were going to gorge yourself, Chestnut-style, after school that day. Also a shoutout to the fellow who had the cart outside the Home Depot in Nanaimo, those dogs were always a treat.
Talking homemade, after the BBQ, boiled in the gross-coloured (and smelling) water is the next-best option, followed by the microwave in desperate times.
I also admit I can be a complete philistine and have eaten a cold wiener or 10 straight out of the pack during late-night fridge raids, after stumbling home with a few pops in me as a younger lad more capable of ingesting mass amounts of sodium.
I’ve also done the ‘roll a piece of bread and count it as a bun’ thing more times than I care to admit.
And I’ve learned folks can be very particular about their hot dogs.
Some people might retch at the thought of desecrating their dogs with ketchup.
“Mustard only,” has been shouted at me a few times.
Everyone has an opinion on hot dogs. That’s why they essentially have their own month.
I’ve tried all kinds, chili dogs, Chicago-style, New York Style, corn dogs, smokies... you name it.
Pretty much any one is just fine (although if you like sauerkraut on a hot dog, we might not be able to be friends). But simple remains best for me.
How do you like your hot dogs? What’s the best way to prepare them? Favourite condiments? Absolute no-gos?
Let me know, I’d love to keep this highbrow conversation going.
PQB News/Vancouver Island Free Daily editor Philip Wolf welcomes your questions, comments and story ideas. He can be reached via email at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca, or by phone at 250-905-0029.
