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The birth of hot dog

RED HOT The delicacy has a fascinating history

How was the hot dog born? According to Maine Antique Digest, it happened in 1902 during a baseball game at the Giants baseball game at the New York Polo Grounds. On a cold April day, concessionaire Harry Mozley Stevens (1855-1934) was losing money trying to sell ice cream and ice-cold sodas. He sent his salesmen out to buy up all the dachshund sausages they could find, and an equal number of rolls. In less than an hour, his vendors were hawking hot dogs from portable hot water tanks while yelling, "They're red hot! Get your dachshund sausages while they're red hot!"

T.A. `Tad' Dorgan, a newspaper cartoonist for the New York Evening Journal, was nearing his deadline and desperate for an idea. Hearing the vendors, he hastily drew a cartoon of a frankfurter with a tail, legs, and a head, so that it looked like a dachshund. Not sure how to spell the word dachshund he simply wrote `hot dog!' The cartoon was a sensation and the term hot dog was born.

But the people of Vienna (Wien) dispute this and point out that `wiener' proves it to be the birthplace of the hot dog.But it was generally known as `wienerwurst'. The wiener comes from Wien (the German name of Vienna) and wurst means sausage in German. Also in doubt is who first served the first hot dog! Wieners and frankfurters don't become hot dogs until someone puts them in a roll or a bun.

There are several stories or legends as to how this happened.

Softness secret

What do you add to make soft pineapple pastry and black forest pastry that we get in bakeries?

Ninnu

An extra amount of diluted sugar syrup has to be used to soak the sponge to make the pastry soft.

Alfalfa

Where can one buy alfalfa sprouts in the city?

Lakshmi

Nutri Diet brand of alfalfa sprouts is available at Q-Mart.

Peanut butter

Kindly give me the recipe for peanut butter.

V.Lizz

Ingredients:

Peanut (roasted and ground)--250 gms

Butter--50 gms

Milk--300ml

Method:

Take butter in a pan. Add the roasted peanut powder.

Sauté for sometime.

Add milk into it. Go on cooking further until the butter floats on top.

Write in to Metroplus Foodline column to clarify all your doubts on food. The queries can be mailed to hydphoto@thehindu.co.in

or snail mail to

Foodline, Metroplus desk

The Hindu, Begumpet Road, Hyderabad - 500016

Or call between 12 noon and 6 p.m. on

23403902

PRADEEP KHOSLA

Executive Chef, Taj Krishna

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