Did you know there is a National Hot Dog and Sausage council?
A few years back they got the Harris Poll people to do a survey of people’s favourite hot dog toppings. As expected, mustard was number one with nearly three quarters putting it on their dogs.
Now, the Council’s rules of hot dog etiquette state, “No ketchup on a hot dog after the age of 18” but the survey showed that 52 per cent of us said ketchup was our second most popular choice, followed by onions, chili (especially in the southwest) and relish. Sauerkraut, coleslaw and jalapenos are also popular depending on the region.
Speaking of regions, in Chicago it’s almost a religion not to have ketchup on your dog. A Chicago hot dog has mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato wedges, a pickle, some peppers and celery salt. No Ketchup!
Heinz wanted to change all this back in the summer of 2017, so they came up with “Chicago Dog Sauce” which was actually ketchup with some other spices! They even made a promotional video of people in Chicago trying it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Avm9UOybI
The internet backlash was instant and that was the end of the “Chicago Dog Sauce” experiment. I’m sure there were some very frank discussions in the stands of the Cubs and the White Sox.
