A Hotdog

So most people have eaten a hotdog at some point. America’s favorite junk food to eat at all kinds of sporting events, backyard gatherings, Festivals, and eating competitions. I certainly had my fair share of hotdogs growing up. Well recently over the past year I’ve heard about this debate I had no idea existed and had never thought about before. It revolves around the hotdog and whether it is in question a sandwich or not. Well in this piece I’m going to weigh in on my opinion of the topic. So first let's explore what makes a sandwich.

The definition of what makes a sandwich as determined by oxford languages definition is “an item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or other filling between them, eaten as a light meal.” yeah, I can’t deny that the definition itself is pretty much what I view as a sandwich. However, that seems to leave open faced sandwiches out of the definition which is a sandwich with one piece of bread and the ingredients exposed laying atop the bread. Are they not sandwiches despite ‘sandwich’ being in the name? I think they are. I mean after all the Submarine sandwich or sub is a sandwich with one piece of bread. The bread that encompasses a submarine sandwich is called a roll. The hotdog shares this trait. I’d say that’s a point towards the hotdog being a sandwich in my mind.

So what besides the question at hand sandwich or not? What is a hotdog? Again we look to Oxford Languages for a definition. The hotdog is defined as “frankfurter, especially one served hot in a long, soft roll and topped with various condiments.” so there we have it. The long meat tube is something known as a Frankfurter. That sounds German, Right? That’s because it is. The city of Frankfurt Germany is often credited with the invention of the Frankfurter sausage. Which is a sausage boiled in water traditionally. So we have from the definition the supposed origin of the sausage we’ve come to know as a hotdog here in the states. I’d say sausage is a meat of sorts. If you remember our definition of sandwich in the previous paragraph it is indeed inclusive of meat or other fillings. The definition of hotdog seems to include the fact that it is served in a long soft roll. Which by my personal thoughts is a sandwich because of the existence of submarine sandwiches. Also sandwiches which utilize a long roll as opposed to the two pieces of bread mentioned in the sandwich definition.

So we have here two definitions which don’t quite add up to spell out that a hotdog is a sandwich. To me however, a submarine sandwich is clearly a sandwich. The hotdog takes on a similar function to the submarine sandwich and loosely dips into the oxford definition of a sandwich. It is a piece of meat. It just uses a long roll. The roll is in my opinion a great option to use in place of two pieces of bread and doesn’t make a sub any less of a sandwich. So, why does it make a hotdog any less of a sandwich. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I truly believe a hotdog is a sandwich as it is a piece of meat that is placed in between bread and is often accompanied by other fillings such as relish, mustard, ketchup, sauerkraut(More German), and many other ingredients. So my question is why is it not its own classification of sandwich. Why do we not just define it as a sandwich that uses a sausage as the main meaty(or plant-y if you’re a vegan) filling. Now, I’m not saying that hotdogs are healthy or my favorite food. I haven’t eaten them for eight years. They make me feel sick now. So all I’m really saying is a hotdog is a sandwich and should be its own classification of sandwich. You can use any sausage in place of the classic frankfurter. In fact our North American variety isn’t even the original frankfurter sausage it’s a lot closer to what is called Wiener Würstchen by the Germans who had invented the frankfurter. This is also known as Vienna sausage. So clearly the sausage in question is interchangeable.

I’ll say it one last time for Clarity. A hot dog is a sandwich that deserves its own classification in the sandwich universe! That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it as law until someone can prove me wrong.

Hey If you liked my article here please share! Also, maybe weigh in on the debate yourself. What do you think about this recently viral debate?