Farideh Sadeghin on Hot Dogs, Regional Obsessions, and the Case Against Stunt Dogs

Summary

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Cooking Issues – Episode Summary

Episode: Farideh Sadeghin on Hot Dogs, Regional Obsessions, and the Case Against Stunt Dogs

Host: Dave Arnold
Guest: Farideh Sadeghin (Author, "50 Hot Dog Recipes")
Date: June 13, 2026

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Overview

This episode focuses on all things hot dogs: regional variations, the cultural forces that shape local hot dog styles, the “case against stunt dogs”, and why some foods inspire intense regional loyalty. Dave Arnold and his regular crew are joined by food writer and hot dog obsessive Farideh Sadeghin, whose new book brings together 50 hot dog recipes and a wealth of history and opinion. The episode balances lively banter, deep-dive food nerdery, and thoughtful reflection on food culture—plus heated debates over ketchup, buns, and the “is a hot dog a sandwich?” question.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Guest Background

• [02:00] Dave welcomes Farideh Sadeghin, author of a new hot dog cookbook boasting exactly 50 recipes ("50 hot dog recipes plus some ancillary recipes," [02:31]).
• The book covers American regional variations and some international twists, plus side recipes like sauces.

2. Regional Hot Dog Obsessions

• [03:06] NYC hot dog style highlighted for its simplicity (sauerkraut & mustard rule) and the iconic “onion goop” (Sabrett-style).
  • Dave: “I'm a sauerkraut and mustard guy. That's it.”
• [04:16] Farideh: Onion goop + papaya juice at NYC’s Gray’s Papaya is “a good pairing... the salty hot dog and the sweet papaya—they sing so, like, in order for me to enjoy the onion goop, I think it pairs better with... the sweet papaya.”
• [07:13] South American dogs are wild and varied—pineapple sauce in Colombia, salsa rosada (mayo + ketchup) and chips are common toppings.
• [08:42] The Seattle Dog debate: Cream cheese, onions, and the mysterious “bialy stick” bun.
  • Dave: “A biali stick is not a thing… a biali, for those of you that don't know... they do not have a hole in them... they must be eaten instantaneously... And they don't even really make them in New York anymore.”

3. Hot Dog Book Details & Philosophy

• [12:19] The “hot dog is a sandwich” debate—Farideh’s book contains a sidebar:
  • Farideh: “A hot dog's its own thing is my thing.” ([12:28])
• [35:17] Book intentionally avoids specifying hot dog brands or methods so recipes are accessible:
  • “You can get any brand you want... get the hot dog you want. Cook the hot dog the way you want... the world is your hot dog, I like to say. So do what you want with it.” ([35:17])
• On ketchup:
  • Farideh: “I'm a very anti-ketchup person, but... I'm over people shaming other people for ketchup… if you want to put ketchup on your hot dog, by all means, put the ketchup on.” ([36:18])
  • With one caveat: “There is Heinz. Heinz, that's the only one. I know.” ([36:41])
• [37:31] Writing the book was anxiety-inducing because “everyone has an opinion,” but that’s also the joy and point of the subject.

4. Personal Stories & Regional Lore

• [05:40] “Tin foil vs. aluminum foil” debate, and how food vocabulary travels.
• [23:00] Rochester, NY’s flour-milling history and the famous Zweigle’s hot dogs.
• [24:48] Rochester’s garbage plate is not included as a hot dog variant—sparks debate.
• [27:01] Local traditions, like slicing hot dogs in Rochester, sometimes ruin the "snap".

5. Hot Dog Stands & Iconic Spots

• [27:14] Walter’s, Mamaroneck, NY: Split hot dogs, homemade blends, special mustard relish. Farideh regrets not including it in the original “20 hot dog stands” highlighted.
  • “Walters is one of my favorite hot dog stands... They split their dogs, put them on the flat top… they have a press... get a double dog.” ([27:16])
• [31:44] Dave admits he’s never had famous NJ “Ripper” or “Italian” dogs; Farideh talks Rutt’s Hut Rippers (deep fried, three “doneness” levels, special relish, [31:52]) and Italian dogs (pizza bread, peppers, onions, potatoes—originated at Jimmy Buff's, [33:26]).

6. The Case Against Stunt Dogs

• [51:31] Hot dog “stunt food” overload:
  • “People do that with hot dogs. I feel... hot dogs at the moment... all my inboxes are the crazy things that people are doing with hot dogs. And I appreciate it. However, I'm like, it gets a little too much sometimes. Some of the things that people do with a hot dog, because as we mentioned, I think simple sometimes is really nice. So you can taste the hot dog. If it's like a good dog, get that snap, all the things.” – Farideh
• Transportability: “It needs to be transportable... If it's too loaded up... defeats the point.” ([52:45])

7. Listener Q&A & Hot Dog Techniques

• [26:13] Pop-open Zweigle's white hot dogs vs. red: both loved, both get “bursting, plump” texture.
• [56:12] Hot dog chili/meat sauce debate—a trick is blending/making it thinner (no beans!), direct Greek influence, regional variations on spices.
• [59:09] “Hot dog is a sandwich?” consensus: No. “It's its own thing.”
  • “Hot dog is a hot dog, a sandwich is a sandwich, a taco is a taco.” – Farideh ([59:15])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On pop-culture ketchup:
  • Dave (channeling Wesley Willis): "Heinz is America's favorite ketchup." ([37:06])
• On culinary territorialism:
  • Farideh: “That's my favorite thing is those debates of who invented what. You know, like the chimichanga...”
• On simplicity:
  • “‘Less is more. Sometimes… If you're topped with too many things, defeats the point.’” – Farideh ([51:31], [52:45])
• Knife and fork guy in Boston:
  • Farideh: “There's a guy at the bar eating his hot dog with the bun with a knife and fork. ...I can't not like stare at this person right now. It's pretty crazy.” ([52:48])
• On hot dog taxonomies:
  • Dave: “I wish we had more than, like, 15 seconds. I was going to go into a whole thing about...the bankrupt idea of the platonic ideal and the idea of definitions in general, I think are kind of irritating. But we don't have time to go into Diogenes and plucked chickens now.” ([59:23])

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Fun Asides and Listener Interactions

• [13:08] Quinn’s “25 pounds of peas” story and culinary sidebars about saffron, food labeling, and frozen pearl onions.
• [38:58] LA Public Library has 12 copies of Farideh’s book—listener update!
• [44:05] Baltimore “crab hot dog” innovation, and regional crabbing as social experience.
• [46:18] Split-top New England buns championed for hot dogs and lobster rolls.
• [54:29] Greek origins of hot dog chili sauce, similar to Cincinnati chili (“is there cinnamon in this?”)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:00 – Guest Farideh intro, book details
• 03:06 – NYC hot dogs & onion goop
• 07:13 – South American & creative toppings
• 08:42 – Seattle dog/bialy rabbit hole
• 12:19 – “Hot dog is a sandwich?” debate
• 23:00 – Rochester flour & Zweigle’s story
• 27:14 – Walter’s, split dog techniques
• 31:44 – NJ Ripper & Italian dog lore
• 35:17 – Book’s accessible hot dog philosophy
• 36:18 – Ketchup wars & Heinz supremacy
• 37:31 – Writing about regional foods (anxiety!)
• 51:31 – Stunt dogs & simplicity argument
• 52:45 – Hot dog as “handheld” food only
• 54:29 – Hot dog chili/meat sauce Greek genealogy
• 59:09 – Is a hot dog a sandwich? Decisive no

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Takeaways

• Regional identity and opinion are baked into American hot dog culture—any book or conversation about hot dogs will run into passionate, conflicting loyalties.
• Simplicity wins. Most revered regional styles keep things simple and portable—a true “hand food.”
• Accessibility matters. Farideh’s recipes encourage home cooks to use what’s available rather than hunting down esoteric brands.
• Stunt foods (over-the-top, loaded hot dogs) might get clicks, but they often undermine what makes hot dogs great.
• Definitions are overrated: The team agrees—hot dogs resist neat labels like “sandwich.” They’re hot dogs, period.

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a trove for hot dog nerds and anyone fascinated by regional American foodways. It blends culinary history, sharp opinions, and practical advice, all told with an infectious sense of fun. As Farideh says: “The world is your hot dog, do what you want with it.” ([35:17])

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Memorable Closing Question:
Dave: “What should your friends send you reels of?”
Farideh: “Ah… the Knicks winning.” ([59:45])

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Transcript

[A]

Hello and welcome to Cooking Issues. This is Dave Arnold, your host of Cooking Issues, coming to you live from the heart of Manhattan, Rockefeller Center, New York City newsstand studios joining as usual with John behind me. How you doing, John?

[B]

Doing great, thanks.

[A]

Yeah. Coming from the great state of Connecticut. Yep. Great hot dog state. That'll come back later.

[B]

Best hot dog state. Yep.

[A]

Best hot dog state strong. Got Joe Hazenrock in the panels. What's up? Hey, how you doing? Welcome to the show. Yeah. All right, so who do we have at this point? We got Jackie Molecules on the phone. No Molecules. He hasn't called in. Did Quinn make it yet? I know Quinn was still, like, you know, getting over his McGillas I did. I love it. How you doing, Quinn?

[C]

I'm doing.

[A]

Sometimes that's the best you can be doing. How's. How's Vancouver Island? Any bizarre Vancouver foods that you have? Vancouver island foods. Anyway? Any, like, you know, locally raised things that shouldn't be raised there?

[C]

Nothing bizarre?

[A]

No. All right, we'll get to it.

[C]

I can't talk about this. Finally, my emu farm. Okay.

[A]

All right. So for those that don't know, Quinn has made best buddies with an emu farmer in Vancouver island who knew, and apparently he leased his land, lost a lease, so now he's packing up his birds and leaving.

[C]

They didn't lose the lease. They just. They want to own the land they're on one day. So they will never own this land because of the price. So they've decided to move.

[A]

I see. I see. And can we start the false rumor that it was Pamela Anderson who owned the land and wouldn't allow him to buy at a reasonable price, and therefore. Can we start that rumor? Is that allowed now that, like, we live in a world where we're allowed to say anything whether it's true or not? Can we. Can we start that? I know it's demonstrably false.

[C]

That's up to you, I guess.

[D]

All right.

[A]

All right. And special guest in the studio today, we have Faraday Sadigan, author of the hot dog cookbook. 50 recipes. There's more than 50 recipes in this, though, aren't there? Or is it exactly 50?

[D]

There's exactly 50 because it seemed like

[A]

you were hitting a lot of the states, and then you have all originals and then internationals, and still 50, huh?

[D]

Yep, just 50. Maybe little breakout recipes in between. You know, like there's, like, a barbecue sauce here and there.

[A]

Yeah, you don't count. But you count those or you don't count those. So those are hot dog recipes. 50 plus.

[D]

Yeah, no, just 50. Just 50.

[A]

No. 50 hot dog recipes plus some ancillary recipes.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yes.

[A]

The one that everyone wants to know about is from New York. And by the way, we'll get into the hot dog book later. Is. Did you. First of all, for those of you that have never been to New York City, I mean, come on, we're still here, don't worry about it. You know what I mean? But like, my point is like we are, for better or worse, like, known for our hot dog carts. It's one of the things that we're known for. But unlike other places in this country and abroad, our hot dogs are pretty simple, you know what I mean? The one thing that we do have that you will not find anywhere else is the onion goop, which I'm not

[D]

a huge fan of.

[A]

I love the onion.

[D]

Do you?

[A]

I mean, not. Look, I'm a, I'm a. I spent most of my life around the New York new city, you know, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, major metropolitan area. So I'm sauerkraut and mustard guy. Yeah, that's it. Like, you know, like, what do you want in your. What do you want in your hot dog? Sauerkraut, mustard and what else? I can use some more sauerkraut, maybe a little more mustard, you know what I mean? It's like, but that's me, you know what I mean? Even when I go to places like Detroit, I'm like, this is great. Can I also have one with sauerkraut and mustard so I can see what your hot dog tastes like. But this is me. But I have a soft spot for the onion goop now. Have you side by sided Sabrette's onion goop and your onion goop recipe, is it close?

[D]

I think it's pretty close, yeah. Although I will say so, talking about onion goop in that way, I think that grazed papaya. So in order for me to enjoy the onion goop, I think it goes well with the papaya juice, you know, have you like, have you paired those like that?

[A]

Because I don't drink, I don't drink caloric, non alcoholic beverages.

[D]

Fair? Yeah, totally fair.

[A]

And I mean look, I mean I drink sometimes. I make non alcoholic cocktails. I'll drink them sometimes, you know what I mean? But in general, like that's my, you know, everyone has to have dividing lines.

[D]

Totally. It's a good pairing though. I think the onion with the papaya, like I was always a bit skeptical, you know, about that. And then you go to gray's and you and it just kind of like together. THEY sing so, like, in order for me to enjoy the onion goop, I think it pairs better with, like, the salty hot dog and the sweet papaya.

[A]

Yeah, but. But graze is graze flat top or are they roller? I don't remember.

[D]

Flat top.

[A]

Flat top. So I used to go to a place because, you know, I couldn't afford graze papaya. It's so fancy. You. You people. I went to Mike's, and Mike's was, back when I was in grad school was two dogs for a dollar. Oh, yeah, that was their recession special, but didn't include any drinks or anything. You just walked in and you just. And what was amazing is if you walked in there and handed them $20 in, like 13 seconds, somehow you had 40 hot dogs. So, like, for parties and stuff like that, my standard lunch was five dogs. I was a 250 lunch guy.

[D]

You know, the recession special at Gray's now is like seven something.

[A]

What kind of recession is this?

[D]

I know it's the worst, but I

[A]

can't remember whether Mike's was roller or flat. I think it was flat with a tin foil situation. Aluminum foil, not tin. I don't know why my generation still calls it tin foil. Never made of tin. Has never made it. I've always been made of a little.

[D]

You know what? That's right. That's so. That's crazy. I think I. I'll say tin. I'll say both. I'll say tin or aluminum foil.

[A]

Oh, my God. What are you saying?

[B]

Aluminum foil.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

All right.

[A]

Son of a bitch. Joe, what are you. Are you an aluminum foil or a tinfoil man? Aluminum foil. Yeah. You can't ask Queen because he's Canadian. It's a whole different country. Who knows what they call it? You don't. You guys don't use any British pronunciation for that, do you? That didn't poison its way over to your soil, did it?

[C]

No, no. And also, I mean, I'll say aluminum foil. Well, I'll just say foil because, like, we're not gold foiling anything in my house.

[A]

Not yet.

[C]

Like, if we say foil, not until

[A]

there's a locally, locally made, locally made Vancouver gold foil. I'm sure then you will wrap it in gold foil. You should be like, it doesn't ever tarnish. Gold is amazing that way. When you go to a museum and you see gold and it's like, you know, like a thousand years old and it's still bright as hell. You're like, what the hell? This is why gold is so cool. Shout out to the Gold Museum in Bogota, Columbia. Amazing place to go. I thought I would hate it. I loved it. And I think all the departments in Columbia. Many of the departments in Columbia have their own Gold Museum, but I've only been to the one in Bogota, and it's choice. You know what I mean?

[D]

Like, adding it to my map.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, my God. When you're. I don't know about their hot dog situation. You have a Colombian hot dog.

[B]

Hot dogs are supposed to be great.

[D]

Listen, South America really goes hard for, like, any hot dog. I think every country down there, like, it was actually very hard. So we could have done more than 50 recipes in this book. Obviously, there's a lot missing. There's a lot of anxiety for me and putting out a book about hot dogs because everyone has an opinion. But, like, South America, every country down there. And like, even within the country, they have, like, little variations. But I'm like, okay, this is like the. The main kind of.

[A]

Now, the Colombian one was. What was that? The pineapple vinegar.

[D]

Yeah, like a pineapple, like, sauce, which is delicious.

[A]

All right.

[D]

A lot of people argue. It's like pizza. Do you put pineapple on pizza? Pineapple on a hot dog is kind of weird, but it, again, it really goes. I like pineapple in general. It's like, one of my favorite fruits. I think on a pizza, it's great. On a hot dog, it's better. And then they also do, like, a salsa rosado, which is like a mayonnaise ketchup, which is a good combination. And like, chips. And chips. Chips is actually my favorite topping besides mustard on a hot dog, I think.

[A]

What about. Which is the one you have here that's got the tiny riced potatoes in it? Do you remember, like, fried rice potatoes on top? Because that.

[C]

In the.

[A]

In a Cuban fritas. Those things are amazing. Those little, like. Like tiny strips. Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Dude, is that the couture kente? The Brazilian one?

[A]

I don't know.

[D]

Like.

[A]

Like, here's, like, I say, like, I'm reading the topics. I'm like, this is great, great, great. But then I'm like, you know, at the end, I'm like, sauerkraut. You know what I mean? In my head. You know what I mean? But all right, one other thing. So I emailed my family or text. Email, please. Come on. I texted my family in Seattle. Cause, okay, in here is a Seattle dog. And it sent me down a catastrophic WTF hole. Because apparently. And people, brace yourselves apparently, the Seattle hot dog, which was, I guess, invented in the 80s, he said, or something like this. Yeah. Little late to me inventing your dog. Just gonna say it.

[D]

Little late. No, I think you can always. New dogs coming up all the time, you know, and it's like a very regional, like, regional specific kind of thing. You know, the cream cheese.

[A]

Cream cheese. And then here was the cream cheese. I was like, okay. But then, like, what blew my mind. What just, like, made me, like, bang my head against the computer screen, even though I was reading it in book form, was originally came on a biali bun type situation. And then I went on the Internet and it. John Brace, Bialy stick. What the hell is a biali stick?

[D]

Truly no idea.

[A]

It's not a thing. Yeah, a biali stick is not a thing. A biale is a bialy. For those of you that don't know. Because. Why would you. Because no one makes bialis anymore. They are usually made in places that also make bagels.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

However, they are not boiled. They are much flatter than a bagel. They do not have a hole in them. They have a depression. They have, like, some onion. Not goop. It's, like, drier. Yeah. Sometimes poppy seeds.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

And they must be eaten instantaneously. It's like you make a biali, you go. You buy it, right? When they make it, you eat it. Like, that's how it works.

[D]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And they don't even really make them in New York anymore. I live in the Bialystoker neighborhood. I live in the Lower east side. Like, literally, Bialystoker Plaza's right there. The Bialystoker old folks home. Like, all the stuff. Costars Bialys, which actually used to be a bialy shop, you know, back in the day. And if you go in Wikipedia and look up Bialys, they're all from Cosars. But back when Cosars was the original Cosars, people, not two owners later, no shade. I'm just saying it's not.

[D]

It is so funny, though, because you're like, seattle, how the heck did you guys get bialys out there? And, like, what are you talking about? Like, everything about it is great. And then, like, this hot dog. But then you're like, I don't get the biali part of it. But that's the thing about hot dogs is the way that things just have traveled around this country. But again, back when hot dogs first kind of started traveling, it makes sense the way, like, you know, Coney Dogs end up in Michigan or New York systems or in Rhode island, you know, and they're all over the place. But the Biali in Seattle in the 80s still, honestly, I was like, what

[A]

the hell is happening?

[D]

There must have been a New Yorker who is just like, you know, over there. And they're like, you know what? Be good. This. This. They've never seen this before. We're gonna do this for them.

[A]

But do you think they just took, like, a standard, like, you know, God's bialy, and just folded it in half and put a hot dog into it? Or did they use one of these? What the hell would a bialy stick even be?

[D]

I don't actually. You know what? I don't even know. It's bizarre.

[A]

You know, people don't even. Like, my first actual, you know, with, you know, the whole area is the character from the Producers, Max Bialyshtker.

[D]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Which is a great movie. I think that's his name. I didn't go look it up. Okay. That was a weird one that sent me. Wasted a lot of time, like. And then I was like, should I read. Should I go buy Mimi Sheraton's bialy book again? The Bialy Eaters and read it? I'm like, don't have time. No time.

[D]

No, can't do it. Can't do it.

[A]

Can't do it.

[D]

We love a rabbit hole.

[A]

Yeah. I love. I'm more than Bealy. Okay. The other. Since we're on. Well, first of all, this is the portion of the show I missed it. I skipped past. We started talking about hot dogs already. Apologize. There's a lot.

[D]

You know what? Hot dogs.

[A]

Hot dogs.

[D]

Hot piggity dogs.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. One of the people who is, you know, a friend of the show is in Norfolk, Virginia. We're not gonna get into. We'll get into it later. His literal freaking Instagram handle is a hot dog is a sandwich. Oh, P.S. i read your. Wait, what do you. It's not a sidebar. Cause it's a whole page. Cause it's a narrow, long book. So it's not a sidebar. It's like a side page.

[D]

Yeah. Little. How do you pull out. Sure, sure.

[A]

On. Is a hot dog a sandwich. And while you don't come down on a side. You clearly favor hot dog as a sandwich.

[D]

No, I don'. Actually. I think that actually, a hot dog's its own thing. Is my thing.

[A]

We'll get into it later. We get into it later. This is the portion of the show where we discuss the happenings of the past week or so. So what do you guys got in the culinary or non culinary world for the past week? What do you got? Quinn, you always got something good for us.

[C]

I made a really nice first spring risotto. My dad bought too many fresh green peas. 25 pounds.

[D]

That's a lot of peas.

[A]

Love it. Wait, so wait, 25 pounds already shucked or in pot? Some knucklehead had to sit.

[C]

Oh, okay.

[A]

That's not as bad. So what is that, like five p's when you're done?

[C]

Yeah. Tim looks like he's my dad.

[A]

Yeah. All right, so how many peas did you. How many pounds of peas did you. And I appreciate you still using the pound unit. How many pounds of peas did you end up with after they were shucked?

[C]

I don't know if we quantified it because it was done in, you know, stages. Not all at once. My dad does about five pounds. You know, he's live texting me as we talk.

[A]

I see 5. So you're. You had 20 yield. Love it. This is why I don't do this stuff, because it's so depressing.

[C]

Although one thing we did do, we made a risotto. And for the broth of the risotto, it was blended cherry tomatoes, strained, and then infused with a bunch of the puns. Pretty good flavor.

[A]

All right, flavor fine. What the hell color was that?

[C]

That was an orange color from the cherry tomato.

[A]

Okay. All right, now I will say this. I love fresh peas.

[C]

A little saffron.

[A]

Of course. Vancouver saffron. No joke. He buys Vancouver saffron. I told him, go on the Internet, buy a small quantity of real Iranian saffron. Especially because he's in Canada. He doesn't even have the freaking problems that we have.

[D]

Like, what are you doing? What are you doing? As an Iranian here, I'm very insult. You're not using Iranian or even Afghani.

[A]

We just do it side by side.

[C]

Yeah, hold on.

[A]

We've had this conversation a billion times. Oh, you know what?

[C]

There's a family.

[A]

There's a culture off the coast of Canada, and they pick their Kocus pistols. No, that's not how it works. You know what I mean? Like, I like. I think it would be amazing if you actually did the side by side and you could describe the taste differences. You know what I'm saying? That's all I'm saying. Someone listen. Someone who can hear me, can send Quinn some free freaking Iranian saffron.

[C]

Dave, you've got my address. You're welcome to order.

[A]

Can we even get the real stuff here now? We can, right?

[D]

I don't think you can. I have a friend who has brought me, I've given money to, and I'm like, please bring me back some saffron from Iran.

[A]

Yeah. So, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Also low key. Okay. Sorry. This is a nice little sidebar for you. One of my roommates, this is years and years ago, my dad gave me a jar of pre ground saffron. And it was in a cumin jar. Ground cumin. And she was making hummus and was like, how do I make hummus? I'm texting her how to make it. And I'm like, oh, I had some cumin and stuff. And then later I was like, how'd it come out? And she was like, well, the cumin, you never got the flavor of it. And it just turned this color. And I'm like, oh, my God. She used like a teaspoon or something of my saffron, my Iranian saffron. I was like, that is so crazy. That's so expensive. I'm so upset. So anyways, note to self. Do not a relabel your jars properly if you're putting saffron in a different jar. And I moved that jar of saffron into my sock drawer.

[A]

There you go. Yeah. The time that I got into a label problem was when someone handed me an unlabeled from my kitchen at the French culinary handed me an unlabeled container of lye and I tasted it. That sucked. Sucked.

[D]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

So these are two reasons.

[D]

Two label.

[A]

Two reasons. Label.

[D]

Label your things, guys.

[A]

Always label. However, if you're working in a professional kitchen environment, always remove the label before you take the thing to dish. Always, always, always remove the label before you take it to dish. If you value yourself and your crew.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

[A]

For sure. Yeah. Even at home it sucks. Like fishing those things out of the bottom of your dishwasher.

[D]

Exactly. The drain or whatever it is, just peel it off.

[A]

I know what I'm waiting for. Like, they have invented laser fruit markers so that they can quickly go and, like, label fruits without putting those dratted stickers on it. Because I get it for when you're selling to a supermarket, but when you're buying for a restaurant and you get cases of fruit with labels on it, doesn't that piss you off?

[B]

Yeah, it's super annoying.

[A]

Yeah. Crap on labels.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. Yes and no to labels.

[A]

You know what pisses me off is when I get food delivered and they Use staples. Oh, yeah. But, like, just to keep the thing shut. I don't care. I don't want any metal near any of my food. Yeah, I get that. That's terrible. I feel it. I feel it. Weird story from this week in Cooking for Me is my new hood. I really like it. And one of the nice things is it's got removable. Removable slats, like a professional hood. Would that fit in a human being? Regular person's dishwasher, which is nice.

[D]

I'm not gonna brag over here.

[A]

Nice. But my wife. I have magnets all stuck to the side of it because I have, like, my bread, you know, razor blade. I never know whether I'm supposed to pronounce the e or not at the end. Am I supposed to pronounce the e at the end of that? Is it a lam or. It's got an accent. Aigu on it. No, my Francophile friend, Blade lam. Yeah. And. And you know, my cake testers. Because, you know, a kitchen without those little cake testers, I mean, it's like a day without sunshine. I use these things all the time. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And so, you know, we. We put it back up and we knocked a bunch of the magnets off. Now we can't find them. And my wife's like, they're going to be in someone's food. It's going to stick in someone's intestine. I'm like, we're good.

[D]

It's going to stick in someone's intestine.

[A]

Yeah. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

They're probably in the dishwasher stuck to the wall. Probably Got to look. Oh, look, now, look. I mean, the dishwasher's metal. Yeah, true, true. Enough story. How the hell did we get there? Oh, we're talking about Quinn and Saffron, and we got all the way to there.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

All right, so what else do you have? How is the rest of the risotto, by the way? On peas. Trader Joe's sells fresh peas. And sometimes they're really good. And sometimes the radicals come out of the bottom. They started growing, and they're all starchy, and they don't have that fresh pea penis anymore. But if you've never. Folks, if you've never cooked a fresh

[D]

pea, can you say fresh pea penis Rat.

[A]

No, I don't believe I did, but I get where you get that from. But if you never cooked a fresh pea, they are really good. You know what I mean? But just get someone else to shuck them for you maybe Quinn's dad.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? Wow. First of all, they are not degenerative organs. It's actually the whole plant coming out of the bottom of the pea. Yeah. Wow. All right, Now I'll never look at a pea the same.

[C]

I thought it was good.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. How close to the end did you add the peas?

[C]

Very close. Like maybe four minutes. I don't mind the pea. That's a little al dente.

[A]

No. Well, especially if it's, you know, if it's fresh. You want you better. I would say, like, not if you're talking to a French chef where, honestly, for them, veg a little over is a little better than under because they hate a. Like, an undercooked vegetable over there. But maybe not now, but back. Back in the day. But I think with peas, I think you're right. Although, like, I like them just when the starchiness goes away.

[D]

Like.

[A]

Yeah, just when the starchiness goes away. Like, I don't really like raw peas.

[C]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

We did really a high ratio. It was, like, not 50 50, but, like, a lot of peas to rice and then, like, a bunch of different new herbs that we just got. You know, plants work in the garden.

[A]

Oh, new to you.

[C]

Not, like a little bit of Colombian.

[A]

All right, nice.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So he had cumin and saffron in one. Now you're triggering her.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

You're triggering her. Not cool. You could have just left it out.

[C]

Oh, boy. Coleman olive oil.

[A]

Oh, Nick Coleman's olive oil. I got you. Okay. Friend of the show.

[D]

I love him.

[A]

Wait, so on the peas, here's a question that I don't have the answer for. So since 90% of the peas that we all use are frozen peas, I have not figured out a way to get those things not to wrinkle as they cool off after you do them. Is there a way to get them

[D]

not to wrinkle up the frozen ones? Yeah, No, I don't think there is. They always do. I love frozen peas, though. I mean, they're so great.

[A]

They're fast. Yeah, they're fast as hell. Toss them. I always like pasta. Anytime I'm making pasta, I'm like, I'm just gonna throw some peas in the water at the end. Yeah. Yeah.

[D]

I love them in my chicken pot pie.

[A]

Oh, yeah, chicken pot pie.

[D]

Delicious.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what? John turned me onto the frozen freaking peeled pearl onions. That's a life changer. That is.

[D]

Those. I've actually never used those.

[A]

That's a good call. Although some of the Brands, they're a little too big. I like the ones that are like, not the ones that are too big. You know what I mean? Yeah. Why do I want to. If I want a pearl onion, like this big, I'll. What the hell is that? You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah. That's too much.

[A]

It doesn't fit. Hole in the pot pie if I have to cut it.

[D]

You don't want to have a whole bite of like a big. It's too much.

[A]

No. So I had a brand and it was getting to, like, chipolini size. I'm like, if I wanted a cipollini, I'd buy that. Exactly, you know. Oh, my God, I hate peeling those. Does anyone sell those things peeled?

[B]

I have no idea. I don't think so. Check the freezer section.

[A]

I hate working with them. Love eating them. Yeah, a lot of things are like that. I ain't cooking fathers at home. Not gonna happen. All right, who else is? What do you got, John? What do you got for me?

[B]

Not a whole lot. Just been prepping, waiting for Department of health inspection. So just getting ready for that. And yeah, six day week. So, yeah, today's my day off.

[A]

Sweet.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

All right, well, I was in Rochester, which will come up again later, because we have a question. But I finally went to Flower City Bread and public provision. Keith Myers, friend of the show, gives us our bread hats. Although I found out he's like, you want another hat? I'm like, no, my wife will kill me if I bring home another hat. But they have a flower hat. And since I spent like half my time now thinking about flowers, she's like, you didn't get a flower hat? I'm like, wait, you're telling me that I should get another hat? I should have gotten a flower hat. Should have got a flower hat.

[D]

What's special about this flower hat?

[A]

It just says no. So like, their marketing is all like, very, like, you know, like, blocky, sans serif. Right.

[D]

So it's their, like.

[A]

And it's like, it just says flour. So they're actually not branded at all. It doesn't have, like, public provisions or like Flower City. Cause like, Rochester, where they are, by the way, their bread's good. Go. By the way, long story short, go eat their bread. They do a great job. It's delicious. You know, family, it's, you know, him, his son, his daughter. Like, it's a great place. Please go. Yeah, so their branding isn't branded really? Cause it's not like public provisions or Flower City. Like, I say Rochester was the flour milling capital of the United States. They took over that rain from Baltimore, actually, because there was a. In that kind of Genesee area, they were growing a lot of soft wheat. And they have a lot of falls. Right. A lot of waterfalls. Really big one, really nice one. The Genesee Brewery area overlooks it. So you can hang out on the Genesee river by the falls, have a beach beer. You know, it's more nostalgic. Jenny Cream Ale is whatever. So because the Erie Canal opened up, they could get their flour down to New York City area. So they had the power, they had the wheat, and they had the transport. So starting in like the 1830s to 1840s, 50s, all the way up until the advent of roller mill and the Midlands purifier, when, like hard wheat and like when they tilled over all the grasslands and started planting hard wheat out in the plains, you know, Dakotas, Kansas, you know, Minnesota up there. That's when Minnesota became the world capital for flour milling. But, yeah, Rochester held the title for a while.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. So Flour City, it was called Flower City, which then switched to also flour because they have a seed company there, apparently. I don't know from seeds because I

[D]

have no land, though. I feel. Yeah.

[A]

I feel like I need to get the flower.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Someday when I go back and we'll get to it later. But of course, well known. Have a great hot dog brand, Swiggles. And by the way, I'll just get to it now.

[D]

Oh, this is one of my favorites.

[A]

They're good.

[D]

They're so good and hard to find, honestly.

[A]

Oh, but here's the Wegmans now has them.

[D]

That's. I was about to say is I'll order them on. On Wegmans and stuff. That's. I had a. I mean, every year, not every year, but the last couple years I've done a fourth of July party. And I get those. I'm like. I order them. I'm like, get them delivered. And I get chicken because I'll do like chicken and like hot dogs. And the one I do.

[A]

Yeah. Were you red or white?

[D]

I get both. Yeah, they're so good. They just like burst. They plump, you know, they're. Get those dogs.

[A]

So from Rock Baker, hold up real

[B]

quick, just to throw out in the discord, Quinn's dad posted a picture of all the peas. He's got three quarts of shucked peas.

[A]

Wow. Yeah. Let's see the pile of. Let's see the pile of pods.

[B]

No pictures yet for that, but that's a Lot of peas.

[A]

That's now their entire backyard.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, we have a caller. Caller, you're on the air. We lose him. We lost him, Jeff.

[C]

Wah.

[D]

You can call back.

[A]

Yeah, just punch them in. If you get him, punch him in. So Rock Baker wants to know, why is the Pop Open Zweigel's White Hot Dog the best dog? I don't know, Rock. I like a red as much as a white.

[D]

I know. I think that I. I like them both so much. I don't think you can go wrong.

[A]

All right, here's. Here's. Okay, first of all, just a note to all of you out there. The garbage plate is not One of the 50 hot dog variations, which. And by the way, I gave this same, like, guff to George Moats because he doesn't include that in his hamburger thing either. And I'm like, okay, fine. And I was just in Rochester, and I wanted to get just the dog, not in plate format. And my one issue with the Rochesterians, when you're going to places where tourists are gonna go, you can't just get a regular freaking. They always cut it in half. And Swiggles has great snap. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

I don't want to cut in half.

[D]

Yeah, you don't want to do that one, you know? Oh, I have so many opinions about that kind of stuff. So, like, there's. There's a time and a place for splitting it and butterflying a dog, you know? Have you been to Walters in Mamariac?

[B]

Oh, so good.

[D]

Oh, my gosh.

[B]

So freaking good.

[D]

Walters is one of my favorite hot dog stands. And who do they use?

[A]

Who do they use? What are they? What dogs?

[D]

They make their own. They do their own blend. You can actually get them on, like, gold belly stuff, so they ship nationwide. They also do their own mustard, which is, like, a mustard relish mixed in. It's delicious. It's so good. And they split their dogs, and they put them on the flat top, and, like, they have a press that they use, and it gets, like, nice and colored and crisp, and you can get a double. Like. So they do a double dog. And do you get the puffy? The puffy. So it's these, like, potato puffs that they also can. They'll smash and, like, put on the dog and their mustard, and it is perfection. One of my new favorite things and part of the problem, I need to do like. Like George most. I need to do multiple versions of this hot dog book. The hot dog book is mainly about regional kind of, like, recipes and Stuff. Right. But there's also a lot of like lore and history and like, you know, BS and stuff. It's a fun book. It's. It's fun. I didn't want to include hot dog stands in the back or brands because there's so many.

[A]

Right.

[D]

And like you just can't. You can't really touch on all of them, but we obviously had to. And so I think there's like 20. And I'm so disappointed in myself for including Walters, to be honest. Cause I actually hadn't been there when I was writing the book. So I like. One of the things I'm doing after, since the book has come out also is on social media. I'll go and do little deep dives into different hot dog stands and hot dog just, I don't know, different styles of hot dogs and do little videos. And I did one about Walters, I think I posted last week actually. And yeah, I was like, it's my way of recognizing some of the places that maybe I didn't cover in the book or that I want to highlight more or whatever. But Walter's Mamaroneck. You have to go up there also.

[B]

Beautiful building.

[A]

I should be.

[B]

Yeah. Old Chinese American takeout building, huh?

[D]

No. You know, he designed that. The, like that they didn't inherit that building.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

Which is so wild. So it's an old pagoda that. I guess it was a copper roof because now it's that green. And so you would think you're like, oh, like. Because why is this Sicilian immigrant making like a pagoda shaped hot dog stand? But I think according to the nat, like, is it third or fourth generation Catherine, who I was speaking to a lot when I was doing the.

[A]

When I was going up there, they're always named Catherine.

[D]

What do you mean?

[A]

Do you say third generation Catherine?

[D]

No, third generation of the family and her name is Catherine. I think she's like a great granddaughter or like great great or something. Maybe third or fourth generation.

[A]

I love the idea of just Catherine.

[D]

It's all Catherine's Catherine iii.

[C]

She.

[D]

I think that he built it because I was like, well, why, why, like why did the. Did he do the Chinese? But I think it was like in the year. I think it was 1918 when they built that hot dog stand. I think it was just. He thought it was like really beautiful and cool. So he built it in this like really cool pagoda shape. It's incredible. You have to go up there. I think it's like a national landmark.

[A]

How far off? I95. It can't be Too far. The Marinex, the size of this book, it's like.

[B]

I mean, from here, it's probably off I95. Eight minutes off. 95A New Rochelle, probably. Yeah. Same off my Marinik exit.

[A]

The only i95, like, New York, Connecticut corridor place I've been to is Super Duper Weenie.

[B]

Oh, that place is great.

[D]

Oh, yeah, nice.

[B]

Delicious.

[A]

Although when I went, like, they're like, you know, they're. They're very good. But I was like, it was all complicated dogs.

[D]

Yeah, I think so. It's interesting. And that's also. Again, there's so many places that do really interesting hot dogs, and I wanted to kind of keep it more, like, specific, like, regional ones. So, like, there's a lot of places that. Yeah, everywhere does a hot dog, but it's not like a regional, like, thing. Do you know what I mean? Like, if that makes sense. I'm like. Well, I'm not gonna include that necessarily, but I think there's a place for, like, a hot dog book of, like, here's all the, like, just a lot more different crazy things you can do, you know, now. But simple. I think I like a little bit more simple.

[A]

Yeah. The one they do.

[B]

Simple. It's just a lot.

[A]

Who the Super Duper.

[B]

Yeah, the. The amount of ingredients they put on is what makes it too much, I think, because it's like. It's the red sauce, onions, it's sauerkraut, you know, it's like the ingredients that you get here, I think they just layer it up a little too much. That's my opinion. Their fries are delicious.

[D]

I love fries.

[A]

Wait, I had something about that, and now it's gone. The. I don't know what we're talking about. You know. You know what my. One of my sources of super embarrassment is? I've not been to, like, two of the famous. Most famous Connecticut dogs, and I've never done any of the New Jersey famous hot dogs.

[D]

Oh, never had an Italian or Ripper.

[A]

Yes. Never had a ripper.

[B]

I need to change that.

[D]

Rippers are great. And it's because it's.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And it's also the relish that they do. Right. Like, so a ripper, for those of you guys don't know, it's. You go to Ruts Hut, and they do a variety. Well, there's three ways, I guess you can request your dog to be fried, and it's an inner. Inner. Outer, where it's, like, kind of dipped in the oil and, like, whatever. And then there's like a. I Forget all the names, actually. But there's the Cremator or the Weller. And it's like bursts open, like, completely over fried and deep fried. But the relish is, like, really nice. I have a recipe for the relish in there as well. But I think that's what kind of makes it even more special, you know, because a lot of places do kind of. You can deep fry the dog or whatever. But yeah, Rippers is one of the. I don't know. Ripper. Sorry. Red Tut is one of the originators of the. The Ripper.

[A]

Yeah. I need to go. I need to go. And then the other one. Wait, is that the one in Clifton? What's the other one?

[D]

That's in Clifton. There's. So there's Dickey D's and. Oh, my God, I'm gonna die. That. I just. I can't remember the name. But the Italian hot dog that originated in Newark, New Jersey. And why, literally, I'm drawing a blank on the name of the place that was the originator. Originator. Dickey D's does it also. But Italian hot dog. Do you know about this one? Do you know?

[A]

Only from the book.

[D]

Well, so it's for those who don't know. It's like a pizza bread. But you look at this pizza bread. So it originated years and years and years ago. The owners, like, the husband and wife. The husband was having, like, poker games in the basement, and the wife was making these hot dogs for the friends coming over, like, to feed them while they're like, playing games and hanging out. But the. In my head, I'm like, it's Johnny's Hots. No, that's in. That's in Philly.

[B]

It's Jimmy Buffs.

[D]

Jimmy Buffs. Thank you. Jimmy Buffs. So the great grandmother, or maybe it's like great great grandmother. Again, all these gener. Cannot remember, but the bread, it's like this, like leftover pizza dough. But really it looks like a giant bagel. Like, it's huge and, like, thick. And you do half. If you get a half of one, it's two hot dogs. Or you can do a quarter with one hot dog. And it's peppers, onions, and potatoes. And at Jimmy Buff's, they do the potatoes in, like coins kind of. And at Dickey D's, they do them in, like chunks, more so. But they Also at Jimmy Buff's, the way that he's. They've like kind of engineered their flat top is that it's an angle so the oil will pool at one end and they kind of deep fry the dogs in that oil and then like push everything up. You know, as it's ready, it's. They're really good. And then they do mustard and ketchup on it.

[A]

What's the. Speaking of oil, just so I can get it straight because it seemed intriguing. What's the one towards the end of the book where they cook it in like not fry temperature oil, but like lower temperature, like oil poached. I forget where it is. You're like, it's like they're not like, they're like, they're like halfway between boiled and fried.

[D]

Oh, I don't know.

[A]

I can't remember. Somewhere towards the end. See if my memory was just slightly better.

[D]

Slightly. Listen, listen.

[A]

Slightly better.

[D]

I couldn't remember Jimmy Buffs.

[A]

So there you have it. One of the things when I was reading it and then. So I'll ask you rather than try to figure out why, but it seems like you made a clear choice to kind of be like, you can make these recipes no matter what hot dogs you can buy. And so you're not be like, you have to get Vienna Beef or so there's very. And so like people who come from areas where like the hot. The actual brand of hot dog is super duper important.

[D]

Use that hot dog.

[A]

Right. But in other words, like, you're like, you didn't want. It seemed like it was a non exclusionary situation.

[D]

Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, in the way the book is, it's like in the front of book, there's all the different ways you can cook a hot dog, all the ways you can cook a bun. And then there's all of the recipes and each recipe it's like, okay, they might traditionally boil this hot dog or deep fry it. So refer to Paige XYZ to do that method. You know, I'll talk about with, okay, Chicago, obviously Vienna Beef reigns supreme there. So like you might use that there. But if you're not in Chicago and can't get a Vienna Beef dog, but you want to make that hot dog, you should. You can get any brand you want. You know, there's so again, I didn't want to even do a lot of brands in the book because there's so many and there's so many I haven't even tried. But really regionally specific ones that are just very exciting. I'm like, you should, you should absolutely get that hot dog. Get the hot dog you want. Cook the hot dog the way you want as well and the bun and then kind of top it however you like. Like, here's a bunch of suggestions for how to top it. But the world is your hot dog, I like to say, so do what you want with it. I'm even. Okay, we can talk about ketchup. All right. I think, like, if people. I'm a very anti ketchup person, but I'm over. Like, my hot take is I'm like, I'm over people shaming other people for ketchup. You know, I'm like, if you want to put ketchup on your hot dog, by all means, put the ketchup on your hot dog. If that makes you happy, do it.

[A]

However, at the end, you correctly say, there is only one ketchup.

[D]

I know. It's true, because there is Heinz. Heinz. That's the only one. I know. That's another thing. There we, like, put a bunch of resources of, like, here's some hot dog brands and buns and, you know, mustards and stuff. But I was like, for ketchup, there is no other good ketchup out there. Homemade ketchup blows. If you give me a homemade ketchup. Like, remember when there was artisanal ketchup at all the restaurants and stuff? And that was just disappointing, you know, like, nobody wants that.

[A]

So my son Dax always quotes Wesley Willis. Heinz is America's favorite ketchup. Rock of a London or rock on, Chicago. You know what I mean? Like, that's it, Heinz. That's it. Pittsburgh got it down, baby. Yeah, that's it.

[D]

It's true.

[A]

And anyone else that makes ketchup is using them as a target. So just go buy the bullseye.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[D]

I think I know. What you were going to talk about before, by the way, is that we don't talk about the garbage plate.

[A]

Oh, no. I started. I started mentioning that. I started mentioning that.

[D]

I'm gonna put a pin in that.

[A]

Look, it's fine. It's fine. I just like, you know, I feel like, you know, that neighborhood could use a little. A little love from outside culinary folk. You know what I mean? I'll say this. I took someone to. However you pronounce tahu, tah, whatever it is. I took someone there four days ago, maybe five at this point, and they didn't understand. They didn't understand. Now, I think people who are from Rochester, they don't necessarily go get the original garbage plate because everyone has their own. It's much like hot dogs in general. Everyone has the one that they like. And if you get it a different way and you didn't like it. They're like, well, you were wrong. Yeah, you did the wrong thing. You know what I mean?

[D]

True.

[A]

But whatever.

[D]

It's so funny. So, I mean, all right, we've kind of talked about this. I don't even know if we talked about it today on air, but like we were talking about earlier is that putting out a book like this that is so specific to people's opinions gave me massive anxiety, because I know I'm gonna miss, you know, some places. You're gonna forget some things, and everyone will come at you, you know, like p. Thankfully, most people have been celebrating this book, so it's been wonderful, and I can't complain. But that's, like, part of the beauty of something like this, that so many people have an opinion about it.

[B]

You know, A quick side note for you. One of our listeners is saying in the discord that the Los Angeles Public Library already has 12 copies of your book.

[D]

Oh, my gosh. Look at that.

[A]

I love it.

[D]

That makes me very happy. Okay. From Maryland, and we were talking about. Well, you're talking about flour from Maryland, and we're talking about fried chicken from Maryland, which I don't even know if

[A]

that's a thing, but still was off air. But, yes, we were discussing it.

[D]

Something that Maryland, besides crabs, that we are known for. Well, first of all, there's a Baltimore hot dog. We put bologna on it. It's like, you know, basically a flattened hot dog with, you know, hot dogs.

[A]

You fry the baloney first, though, right?

[D]

You kind of like. It's not fried, but it's, like, on a flat top. Yeah, yeah. So it gets a little bit of color, but not.

[A]

Cuz, please.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? Exactly.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

But one thing that we are known for, this is not a hot dog at all. It's pit beef. Do you know pit beef?

[B]

Yes. Love it.

[D]

Thank you. Thank you so much.

[A]

I've been told to get it, but I have not had it.

[D]

It's very good. So outside of Baltimore, it, like, kind of started on Pulaski Highway. All throughout, there's, like, roadside stands, and it's. In Maryland, we say it's like our version of barbecue. You talk to anybody who does barbecue, and they're like, that is not barbecue. Which 100% it's not. You know, like, it's. It's smoked and then kind of finished over a pit and thinly sliced. So it does, like, pit beef itself looks similar to roast beef, but. Okay, so I did a video about this, about my favorite Pit beef place that's in Edgewater, Maryland, right outside of Annapolis. Bayside Bowl. Grew up going there. I love their pit turkey. They've got amazing ham. Everybody was like, that's not A, that's not barbecue. And B, that's just roast beef. Looks like Arby's. And then a lot of people in Boston are like, you gotta go the North Shore. I can't do a Boston accent, clearly, but people out there from Boston, look thing. I apologize. I do. I love Massachusetts. I was just in Boston last week and I was like, I'm going to go to the North Shore and go to Kelly's, which is the originator of the roast beef three way sandwich. Do you know about this? I did not. But after doing my pit beef video, went up there, tried it, and it's. It's. It's roast beef. You know, they do roast beef. It's cold. Pit beef is served warm usually.

[A]

Do you like a cold roast beef sandwich?

[D]

I listen, Kelly's was delicious. They do white American cheese and James river barbecue sauce. That's the three ways to me, if

[A]

it's cold roast beef, it must have horseradish for me.

[D]

So I agree with you. Like also horseradish mayo, which in Maryland we have. It's called tiger sauce. Basically, it's horseradish mayonnaise. But yeah, they don't do. You can get that as an option. But the three way original is the. Excuse me. Not the pit beef. The roast beef, the James river barbecue and the American cheese. White American, which is also cold, which I. It was good. And it's. The original location is in Revere Beach. There's a few locations now up there of Kelly's. But so. And I just want to clear it for everybody. Like, it is not pit beef, is not roast beef. I'm just gonna say that I want that to be clear for everyone.

[A]

People shouldn't get all bent. People should. People. Unless you've gone to a place and you're like, crap on what you do.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Like what? Like, I won't call crap on Chicago's pizza, but Jon Stewart did. You know what I mean? Like, I'm sure. Presumably he had it.

[D]

Which pizza is he Talk crapping on the deep dish.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Fair tavern style pizza in Chicago is good.

[A]

Listen, I'm not gonna get into it. Cause it's not. You're not gonna get into it. Other than when you do get the deep dish thing, they could cook it faster than that. You know what I mean?

[D]

You know what? Yeah, agreed.

[A]

They Know they're gonna make it.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[D]

How do you par. Cook it a little bit and just finish it.

[A]

That's like, you know, it's like. Like the people who are the best in the world at, like, what they do. Like. Like Maison. Maison Dandoy or whatever it's called.

[B]

Yeah, Maison d'.

[C]

And.

[A]

Yeah. You go there and. Sure. You know, like, you know, their waffle dough is only in good condition for a short amount of time, but because they sell infinity waffles.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

They're always perfect. When they're always cranking. You're not waiting 45 minutes except for the line. You know what I mean? Yeah. Or like, you know, you go to, like, the best al pastor places in Mexico City and they're making infinity of them. You know what I mean? Like, that's the way you go to them. You're like, all you do is deep dish pizza and I gotta wait 45 minutes, but I'm already sitting at the table. What the hell? Didn't you know we were coming? You know what I mean?

[D]

It's true. It's true.

[A]

Do you have problems filling the seats? You just start the dough. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, whatever. Not saying anything negative about the product.

[D]

I'm just saying it's the process.

[A]

Yes, right. Yes. It should not have gone down that tangent, but I'll throw my roast beef in beef on weck. Very good. The buffalo one.

[D]

Yes, I know. That was another one that came up a lot of people were talking about, which I have not had. Beef on weck.

[A]

Good. It's not that the beef is magical. It's the caraway and salt rolls.

[D]

Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

That make it that. And so, like, even though, like, I'm not gonna claim to make buffalo style anything, you know what I mean? Like, I do make caraway and salt rolls as a result of being like, that is a good idea. You know what I mean? But I have to try this pit beef and see what it is. I think I've. You know what? First I heard of it was what, on the wire, probably.

[D]

Yes. 100%. Everybody hears about it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great show.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, still holds up.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I rewatched it recently. I should. It's a good show. But on the crab meat, you also do a crab meat one at the end.

[D]

Yeah. Which works. It really does work. I think a lot of people will see that. And Marylanders who are like Die Hard Marylanders, which. I am a Die Hard Marylander, but I Think crab on a hot dog works. It's that sweetness of the crab meat with the saltiness of the hot dog. I also. It's kind of like a. I'm gonna say, listen, we're not crab boiled people, but like, we do steamed crabs or whatever, but I put corn in there and Old Bay. And the way I eat crab when I'm picking. And I'm a piler, if you know what this means. So, like, instead of picking and eating as I go, I pile my meat. And then once I have a really nice pile, which takes a lot of self restraint, I pour butter onto it and apple cider vinegar, and then I just eat it like in chunks like that, you know, so I'm like, you know, it's getting there full. So for my crab salad on the hot dog, I put vinegar, apple cider vinegar and butter, melted butter on it in Old Bay, obviously. And the corn, and it's delicious.

[A]

Are you fast enough to be able to actually eat your fill of crab meat?

[D]

Well, you. Here's the thing about eating crab is that it's not a fast process. The whole thing about eating a crab is that it's a leisurely thing. You're hanging out, you got the newspaper, the. The brown paper down, and you're picking, and you're drinking some beers and you're. You're getting like hush puppies and things on the side to fill you. And then it's a social situation, you know, so you're never really getting like full or like. Yeah, you will get full after. Like, I'll eat, like, I'd say four to six crabs is like how many I want to eat.

[A]

Show me the size of the crab that you're.

[D]

Oh, well, they have to be like,

[A]

all right, you're not. Not those micro.

[D]

I mean, that's. I'm like, doing the extension of it, like the. The carapace. But yeah, like, they're like big ones. You want to get the jumbos. They're expensive.

[A]

Yeah, it's a. It's a Money.

[D]

So good, though. I went crabbing with friends on the bay last summer.

[A]

What was your bait? Chicken?

[D]

Yeah, of course. Yeah, the chicken necks.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. It's the best. It's the only way to do it.

[A]

So weird.

[D]

Why would some people use hot dogs? Do you know that? Yeah, yeah. One of my friends there, like in. In Virginia, they use. They use hot dogs.

[A]

There's some. All right, back to hot dogs. So split top or regular people? Split top for me.

[D]

Split top buns.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean, yeah, like The Pepperidge Farm ones are really good. Or like. Like the New England style. Those are.

[A]

That's what I'm saying.

[D]

Those are hard to find, though.

[A]

I'm saying. I think all the people who don't appreciate the New England style split top bun, I think it's because they haven't had them.

[D]

Yeah, it's. I mean, I was just. So I was in Boston last week, like I mentioned, the reason I went to Boston last week was because the Orioles were playing at Fenway and I'd never been to Fenway. And I mean, I make myself sound like a huge baseball fan, a nerd.

[A]

But you're wearing a Knicks hat.

[D]

I'm wearing a. Well, I was at the Knicks game last night.

[A]

Oh, fancy fans. I know.

[D]

I mean, we lost, which was a huge disappointment. Still incredible. I mean, listen, we'll get into that, but the refs blew it for us. But going to. I was at Wrigley last summer. Cause, you know, these iconic old stadiums and there's something obviously nostalgic about baseball and hot dogs, you know. So you have.

[A]

It's in the book, by the way. You can read it.

[D]

Exactly, exactly. But going to Fenway, they do the Fenway Frank. And they do the split top bun. And it. I'm saying this wrong, but the Kayam, I think is the name of the brand.

[A]

Yeah, Kayam.

[D]

Is that right?

[A]

I don't know. I know that. Yeah. K A Y E N. Yep.

[D]

Yeah. Really good hot dog. Because those are like. I think they boil them and then grill them. So it is like that, right?

[A]

Yeah. You think? You mentioned that.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

In the book. I've never been to Fenway, but I will say this. If you have a lobster roll. I know we're not talking about lobster rolls, but if you have a lobster roll on a standard hot dog bun, you have made a mistake.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It's gotta be New England style.

[D]

I know, you're right. Yeah. And you can buy em online.

[A]

And if you bake your own, they're easier to bake. Oh, I think I like. Look, I'm. Yeah, I'm for it.

[D]

Anyway, there's also a lobster roll style hot dog in there.

[A]

Yes, I saw that, but I don't remember. Is it a hot. It is hot. Hot lo.

[D]

I believe. You know what? I can't remember. I think it is. And then cold caviar on top too.

[A]

Obviously. Super fancy. Fancy.

[D]

It's called the fancy, like lobster roll

[A]

dog or whatever I was at. So I mentioned. I think last week, a couple weeks ago, I was at Captain Scott's. I think it's Captain Scott's over up in New London and they do a lobster grilled cheese. And I was wondering whether that's a good idea.

[B]

There's a couple places that do that along the coast in Connecticut.

[A]

Have you had it? Is it a good idea?

[B]

No, I haven't.

[D]

No. It's kind of like. I'll say this, I also don't love lobster Mac and cheese. And that feels similar enough to me. You know what I mean? That like, I don't know, sometimes the lobster tastes overcooked, you know, in those situations, especially like a Mac and cheese. I don't know. I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm trying to think of whether I would like it. I'm trying to also guess what kind of do they like try to go all the way and then with brioche's and then is it too soft? Is it crunchy?

[B]

I would just never. If on the same menu there's gonna be a lobster roll and I would just always rather get that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Also, what cheese are they using is what I'm curious about.

[A]

Right, Right. This is random, but I've watched the original Devil Wears Prada the other day and I didn't realize Adrian Grenier was in it.

[D]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. He makes the grilled cheese.

[A]

He makes the grilled cheese. And I was like, you know, that looks good. Yeah, he looks like he did a good job on the grilled cheese. They take a bite of it and I hear, I want like, man made a good grilled cheese.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Or at least their sound editor is really good.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

Their sound editor makes a good grilled cheese. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

There is nothing better than. Honestly not. That's why I love a good grilled cheese. I'm not saying there's nothing better. There's a lot of things better than good grilled cheese, but you can't. It's hard to beat a good grilled cheese, you know?

[A]

Yeah. My brother in law, the photographer I work with, you know, in the one book I have, but whenever the theoretical. Other books that I've partially written, like he has had. Other than, I think Hawaii and North Dakota, he's had a grilled cheese in every state.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. He's missing two. Yeah.

[D]

Wait, Hawaii and North Dakota.

[A]

Yeah. He's never been to Hawaii. That's why. And I think he missed North Dakota. He's missing two Interesting.

[D]

What's the. I'm wonder. I'm curious if like, it's like, is there regional specialties for the grilled cheese as well?

[A]

You know, that's the thing. When he was doing it, it wasn't like, you know, George was, you know, George Modes, he wasn't like collecting. He's just like, he's vegetarian, he's on the road. And so, like, the one thing you can always get is grilled cheese. And so, like, because he's shot in so many states. You know what I mean? And they've done all this stuff that it's like, just like, that's. He's like, oh, yeah, I've done it. You know, because it's like, he's like, have I been there? Yeah, I had grilled cheese there. You know, I think if he was doing it now, maybe he would collect them or whatever, you know, Gotta be

[D]

a book, you know, Come on. I mean, there's many. There's many grilled cheese books out there. Let's be honest.

[A]

But I Interneted this recently to try to just, you know, troll them a little bit. And like, you know, most of them are just aggregates. They're just like someone trolls the Internet for, like, who's got the best. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, no real work involved. And a lot of like, grilled Mac and cheese. Grilled cheese. The hell's that? I've never had one of those Mac

[D]

and cheese, grilled cheese.

[A]

It's like, instead of like. Yeah, what's that about?

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

People are just getting to be too much with these. These stunt meals.

[D]

Yeah. You know, and that's. No, that. That I will say that's part of the thing. And there's. People do that with hot dogs. I feel like hot dogs at the moment. First of all, to anyone out there who's my friend that's listening, stop sending me hot dog reels and all these hot, crazy hot dog things. That's all my inboxes are the crazy things that people are doing with hot dogs. And I appreciate it. However, I'm like, it gets a little too much sometimes. Some of the things that people do with a hot dog, because as we mentioned, I think simple sometimes is really nice. So you can taste the hot dog. If it's like a good dog, get that snap, all the things, you know, like, there's a lot of important elements to a hot dog, and I think less is more. Sometimes, you know, you don't like, especially like, because when you have a. It needs to be transportable in a way. You know what I Mean, that's the whole point. Like the hot dog was invented as like this very American thing that you know, for the busy person, you know, that's on the go to get lunch. It's affordable, they can grab it, go and like not miss any work. Right. So I think that like part of also with the book was that I wanted everything except for the scrambled dog and I think the currywurst everything is like you eat it on the go. Like there's a bun or something, you know, so like if it's too loaded up, like you can't hold that thing. If you're top with too many things too have too many heavy things, you know, like it's defeats the point.

[A]

You shouldn't have to have a knife and fork for this most of the time.

[D]

Oh my gosh. I did a pop up event in Boston, like I said last week, and there's a guy at the bar eating his hot dog with the bun with a knife and fork.

[A]

Was it Bill de Blasio?

[D]

I was like, I was like, I can't stare at this person right now. I wanna be polite, but also like, I can't not like stare at this person right now. It's pretty crazy.

[A]

Yeah, it's wild. Listen, I'm one of those people like, you know, my mom was very busy growing up. She didn't teach me to eat neatly, she didn't have time. She was busy saving kids lives, you know what I'm saying? So I'm a messy eater, but still I'm not gonna pick up a knife and fork to eat a hot dog.

[D]

No, that's, I mean the whole thing with, again whole thing with a hot dog is that it's a handheld food that you don't even really need a plate because the bun is your plate. It's also your cutlery, I guess. Or your hands are your cutlery.

[A]

It's your white glove. If you read your section on the thing.

[D]

Thank you very much.

[A]

Do my homework. Okay. Now one other thing from the book and there's one connection. I don't remember if you made it or not. The meat sauce is not chili. It's not standard chili, right? Yeah, it's strangely, although different, strangely consistent from here. I've never had it west of Detroit, you know what I mean? But like the garbage plate, you know, Nick's like, that's a similar meat sauce. And you go all over these weird places and they have this and you know, as you say hot dog chili sauce. Yeah, it's Greek origin, right? Is it related to Cincinnati chili, which is also. I've never had Cincinnati chili, but for those that haven't tasted. And so the person I took to the garbage plate, they had the meat sauce in two different places. Cause we went to two different places and they're like, is there cinnamon in this? I'm like, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah. And so it's similar. Yeah. So it's so interesting. I mean, it's just one of my favorite things is food ways. Right. Like how food kind of like gets around and where like. And how it changes as it goes. And so, you know, I kind of mentioned it at the top about in Rhode Island, NY system hot dogs, they do a hot dog chili sauce also. And theirs is very spice laden also, like different kind of spice. I think theirs is more like cumin centric. Whereas, yeah, you go to Cincinnati and it has a little bit more cinnamon in there. Up in Detroit, like some of the versions that they do with their Coney Dog is there's like beef heart in it, depending on where you go. But yeah, it's. And then you've got down in D.C. the half smoke, where they also do like a chili sauce.

[A]

I like Ben, also Greek, or that

[D]

one's not really that Greek, but it

[A]

is like a. I thought that was like kind of a like a black American culture thing down.

[D]

And it's definitely more of like a. It's. It's still a chili sauce though, like not chili. So like a chili sauce is like a bit thinner. And also like West Virginia, they do a slaw dog and they do. So one thing I actually really like about my. When I make hot dog chili sauce is I'll blend it a little bit because you want it a little bit more finely ground. There's no beans. Obviously. A lot of people don't put chili and beans anyway. But they. If you do put chili and beans, it's like to stretch it out a bit more or whatever. But with hot dog chili sauce, there's no beans in there and like making a bit thinner. So like I'll use an immersion blender and kind of thin it out.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So to speak. So. But yeah, it's good.

[A]

So don't buy a can of Hormel's and dump it on your hot dog and think. Is that what you're saying?

[D]

Exactly. Unless you like it, you can get some good hot dog canned hot dog chili sauces.

[A]

Yeah. Nice. Who makes a good one?

[D]

I forgot there's a name in the book. In the book, there's resources in the back.

[A]

So this leads into. Michael writes in back to Connecticut hot dogs.

[D]

Oh, yes.

[A]

Let's hear what is the better Connecticut hot dog style with hot pepper relish. Like blackies, which you brought us. Blackies. We tasted it on air. It's not sweet. It's like a non sweet relish or capital lunch meat sauce with onions and mustard. And I looked up capital lunch because I've never been, unfortunately, in Bristol. Yeah, you've been.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. Good.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay, you're gonna have to tell us which is better.

[A]

Well, so like. So Michael wants to know whether Martin Russell's or Hummels. Those are the two most famous, I would say Connecticut dogs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I've never really. I've never had Martin Russell Hummels. I've had many times.

[B]

Yeah, Hummels I've had many times. Martin Russell's. I've had a capital luncheon in New York.

[A]

Capital lunch, not capital grill. And. But I looked up how they make their meat sauce and get this. They. Okay, according to wherever I read it, I don't remember, I just cut and paste it. Says the signature ultra fine consistency is achieved by adding water to the raw meat before they brown it to make a sludge that they then cook off.

[D]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

It's weird, right? Because you like. It must be double ground fine. Which it is. They're always fine, but. And they also use cinnamon, allspice, and clove. So it's part of that Greek.

[D]

Yeah, the Macedonian Greek kind of. As it like explores and goes up and around and all over.

[A]

And everyone claims they invented it, but probably, who the hell knows, you know what I mean?

[D]

That is my favorite thing is those debates of who. Who invented what. You know, like the chimichanga or like

[A]

whatever it is, you know, here's my big money idea. I said this on air. Someone please do it. It's the semichanga. So you take a. You take a burrito and you only fry the bottom half so that you can hold it. And then the top is soft, and then the bottom, you eat like an ice cream cone. Semi chunk.

[D]

Like an ice cream cone.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Into it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Someone's got to do it. Wait, did I miss any. Did I miss any big hot dog questions? We have a minute. Other than hot dogs. A sandwich. Should we go out and freaking. Oh, no. Yeah, I got that question. Oshkosh Bagash wants to know how to stabilize their. Their beurre blanc, which is made with Worcestershire sauce, but it's not. It's more liquid than normal. And I think maybe that's why it's breaking. Other than keeping your temperature accurate. For holding, I would use a mixture of. On your water base, 1.5% gum arabic and 0.15 to 0.12 xanthan. Whisk it in, get it done, then it should hold for a long time. I think that's your problem. Curtis B. Has a chicken broth that they want to remain liquid. When it's cold, do a freeze thaw. So water the chicken broth down till it's just barely setting, freeze it solid, and then let it thaw over a bunch of layers of cheesecloth. The stuff that comes out won't have any of the gelatin left. You can then reconcentrate it. Zbanx. We'll do your God's Mojito next time. 37 seconds. Hot dogs. A sandwich? I don't think so.

[D]

I don't think so either. No, it's not. No, it's its own thing. Also, I hate when people are like. Or is it a taco?

[A]

Yeah, none of that.

[D]

There's, like, the Venn diagram and stuff. Okay. There's some. There's similarities here and there, but a hot dog is a hot dog, a sandwich is a sandwich, a taco is a taco.

[A]

There we go. And I, you know, I wish we had more than, like, 15 seconds. I was going to go into a whole thing about, like. Like how, like, you know, the bankrupt idea of the platonic ideal and the idea of definitions in general, I think are kind of irritating. But we don't have time to go into Diogenes and plucked chickens now. Maybe later. Faraday, thanks so much for coming on. What should your friends send you reels of?

[D]

Oh, oh, Ah. I don't know. The Knicks winning.

[A]

Okay, all right. Cooking issues.