Hot Dog Day in the USA

Sausage embedded into the cut from one end elongated bun and poured with ketchup or mustard, today considered a classic American cuisine. But no one knows for sure the origin of hot dog in the USA, although it is known that 1893 was declared a great year sausages in a bun.

As the national holiday Hot Dog Day was officially established by the US Chamber of Commerce in 1957. And in 1994 the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council was establish to studying quality of the product and to deal with its tasting and advertising.

Traditionally, members of National Hot Dog and Sausage Council hold competitions on art of hot dogs cooking, under four basic rules:

People over 18 years old are not allowed to pour hot dog with ketchup;

Hot dog in a bun must not be eaten from plate, but with hands only;

Seasoning, remaining on hand, must not be washed off, one must lick it off the fingers;

In no case one can put a hot dog on elegant china, it's just not compatible with hot dog concept.

Statistics say that recent years consumption of hot dogs has increased, and the average American eats about 60 hot dogs a year. On the US Independence Day, Americans consume about 150 million hot dogs. If you stretch this hot dog chain, it can be five times to cover the distance between Washington DC and Los Angeles. By the way, every US state has come up with its own recipe for this popular dish. For instance, in the US southern states they cook corn hot dogs, in Kansas they add some grated cheese and sauerkraut, in Chicago apple and crab hot dogs are cooked. Even the usual ketchup and mustard were replaced by hot dog vendors responding to customer requests, now they add wasabi- and avocado-based mayonnaise, and some offer to try a hot dog with peanut butter and foie gras. These are only some samples. Also it should be mentioned that this traditional American dish is now popular not only at home but also in many countries around the world.