The Battle of the Frankfurters

The latest Men in Aprons poll is over, and I wanted to cover the topic of hot dogs and grilled links of the sort. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for Cooking For US about the history behind the hot dog. It triggered a lot of good thoughts in my head, as well as a couple of opinions on my preference of hot dog.

Recently, we have been given a package of giant all-beef hot dogs. They tasted alright, very beefy. But I couldn't help but think that the flavor just wasn't right. I actually preferred the flavor of those mystery meat hot dogs that you can get at the ballpark. According to the poll, I'm not alone in my preference, but the winner overall was the real sausages and brats.

It's not surprising that people rallied around the brats, sausages, and other links as their hot dog preference. Personally, I'll take a mystery meat dog any day, but I could stand to eat some brats now and again. Bratwurst has such a unique flavor, and they can be dressed up nice with sauerkraut, onions, or plain old dijon mustard.

For tailgating, there is a tasty Texas tradition called "sausage wraps." Take a link of your favorite smoked sausage, wrap a tortilla around it, dip it in mustard and eat. Very very good. So good, in fact, that many stadium food stands have adopted it into their menu.

Speaking of hot dogs and grilling, Labor Day is coming up, and the Carnival of the Grill will be in full swing. I have set the due date for entries to be the day after labor day, to give you plenty of time to submit your entries. This edition will be hosted at Bucky McOinkums BBQ Blog. Go to the blog carnival page to submit your entry.