The Old Man was a master of the charcoal grill.
Grilling was vastly different decades ago. Those of you enrolled in high school might have no idea what I’m talking about, but long before propane gas grills became popular we had Kingsford charcoal briquetts.
The summer cookout is a warm weather delight and tradition. On those special occasions, rather than simply flipping a switch, the Old Man fired up the grill.
Drench those babies in lighter fluid, stand back so as not to singe your eyebrows and toss in a match from a safe distance.
Whoosh!
The most difficult part was the wait. We patiently watched as the briquetts changed from black to gray. Grill too early and the heating source wasn’t consistent.
Along with burgers and chips, hot dogs are a staple of summertime cookouts.
Call them frankfurter, wiener, tube steak, banger, weenie, dachshund, wienerwurst or even bun pup.
In honor of this strange summer—to recognize my father--I’ve listed some of my favorite hot dogs:
• Nathan’s Famous, Coney Island, New York-If where you eat it is key, then this is the place--an amusement park at the beach. Joey Chestnut shoveled down 75 dogs at this year’s July 4th hot dog eating contest and Miki Sudo took the women’s division title after consuming 48.5 dogs, in just 10 minutes.
• Veteran’s Stadium, Philadelphia—Another favored spot to catch a hot dog is the ballpark. There’s nothing quite like the crack of a bat, a dog and a brew. That was until the Phillies experimented and swapped beef for chicken. Yeech! It was thankfully a short lived disaster.
• Over an open fire-Get a long enough stick, poke it into a hot dog, don’t stand too close and try not to burn it too much.
• Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida-At the former Grapefruit League home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Dodger Dog has perfect dimensions. It was a longer and thinner version. Can’t wait to try one at Dodger Stadium.
• Jimmy Johns, South of West Chester, on Route 202-If you want to bite down a little bit harder than usual to experience a dog in its natural skin, this is the joint. It’s cool here. Watch the model trains run and check out the black and white photos.
• Varsity, Atlanta, Georgia-You will be asked, “What’ll you have?” and you should then request a dog, or two or three. This two city block-long restaurant seats 800, holds 600 cars and is the world’s largest drive-in.
• Any food cart, Innsbruck, Austria-You’ll get two little frankfurters on a piece of wax paper, with a hunk of bread and a dab of mustard. Yum!
• Valley Forge Music Fair, Devon-When I worked here pointing at parking spaces, we’d enjoy the left-over rotisserie dogs when the stand shut down and intermission was over. They were shriveled up a bit and dry, but yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch.
• Yocco’s, Allentown-Most places have signature hot dogs and Allentown’s version comes on mostly bread, rather than a classic bun.
• Home Depot-No idea why, but they are just that good here.
• Costco-Dining in a box retailer. Like the rest of the store, a real bargain.
• Freddy’s, South of West Chester, on Route 202-The Chicago Dog. Don’t know why it works so well but it does. The Freddy’s hot dog features mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle, and two things I’ve never heard of, celery salt and sport peppers.
• West Virginia, The originator of this treat probably accidently mixed hot chili, cole slaw and hot dogs together at a picnic. Yes, it works.
• Wrigley Field, Chicago-I’ve heard to not ask for ketchup here at the risk of offending a native. Without asking, mine came with fried onions.
• Wally’s Weiner World, In the shade of Old Glory and the Historic Courthouse-Beware of the Dog. The dude who runs this seasonal cart is a regular West Chester celebrity. He won a vehicle on Wheel of Fortune and stopped a fan (likely from Lasko’s) with his tongue as a Stupid Human Trick for David Letterman.
• Providence, Rhode Island-Hot wieners are regularly made with beef, pork and veal. They usually come with a natural casing, arrive on a steamed bun and are smaller and thinner than we are accustomed to. Celery salt, yellow mustard and chopped onions are typically used to top it all off.
• The Excelsior, Albany-The Garbage Plate originated in Rochester. I had a mound of dogs, home fries, beans, mustard, onions and horseradish sauce piled on a Styrofoam plate at the bar. Lots of interesting, different tastes mixed together, and it all ends up with a clunk in the same place--the gut.
The Old Man doesn’t have to wait for the charcoal to properly heat up anymore. He just cranks up the gas grill in Florida, the land of perpetual summer, where he can grill year round.
Of course there is nothing to stop us from grilling dogs in January, here in Chester County. We can always boil, or slice them in half and fry in a pan.
Why of course, the cooking is half the joy. Long live the hot dog!
Bill Rettew is a weekly columnist and Chester County native. It’s that little bit of burned, crispy skin that he enjoys most about hot dogs. He may be contacted at brettew@dailylocal.com
The Link LonkAugust 06, 2020 at 08:11PM
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SMALL TALK: With the summer upon us it's time to enjoy a hot dog - Daily Local News
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