Why is the hot dog called that?

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published by Gabrielle on May 22, 2022 at 2:32 p.m.

Every day, the TDN offers you an unusual new acquaintance that you probably didn’t know. Anecdotes that you can brag about with family or friends.

After wondering why turtles have shells, we are now interested in hot dogs. In your opinion, why is this sandwich called that?

Why do we say a hot dog?

If you’ve ever eaten a hot dog, you must have wondered why this sandwich is called that. If we translate literally, we get hot dogyou have to admit that it’s a funny name… We reassure you, there is no dog (normally) in the hot dog, but where does this strange name come from?

There are many legends about this sandwich. Let’s go back to the creation of the hot dog. What is hot dog? It is a sausage placed in an elongated bun accompanied by a sauce often mustard or ketchup. Americans eat 20 million hot dogs each year. This famous sandwich would have emerged at the end of the 19th century century according to the Americans. A version disputed by the Germans. The latter claim that the sausage was invented in Frankfurt in 1487.

At the end of the 16th century, a butcher named Charles Feltman had the idea of ​​selling sausages on the beach. But this dish was not very practical to taste. To make it easier, he would then place the meat in bread, thus creating the ancestor of the hot dog. Success was immediate, the man nicknamed his creation red hot. It is also in the former butcher’s restaurant that the International Hot Dog Championship takes place every year.

One thing is certain, it was the German immigrants who brought the frankfurter to the United States. They would have started marketing hot dogs from the 1860s. Initially, sausages were served in round milk buns. Seeing the Germans develop their business, the Americans popularized the hot dog which will make its way into baseball stadiums.

But then why is this sandwich called “hot dog”? German immigrants did not come to the United States alone. They came with their dogs and in particular the dachshunds and the bassets. You know those dogs we call “sausage dogs”. You are no doubt beginning to better understand the origin of the name hot dog. According to Brice Kraig, a hot dog historian, the origin of this name would simply be a joke Americans.

The word hot dog therefore came from the Americans. They thought the sausage looked like a dachshund. But there is also another explanation. Americans doubted the nature of meat contained in the sandwiches. Rumors swirled at the time. Some sausage makers were accused of using dog meat. Frankfurt sausage makers have not escaped the rumour. Around 1890, traveling stalls were then called “dog carts”.

In Quebec, the hot dog is called hot dog, just like the hamburger is called hamburger. Some Quebecers also call this sandwich the “roteux” which is a familiar term. The reason ? It would burp after swallowing it.