Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 4, 2015

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 4, 2015 11FOOD AND DRINK Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 4, 2015 11FOOD AND DRINK 
TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dillsthechefknows@yahoo.com 
HOT DOGS AND THE SPIRIT 
OF 4TH OF JULY 

The bad news my friends is that Denny Barry’s 
4th of July Party is waterless this year, the good 
news is , it’s a great day for a hot dog. Over seven 
billion hot dogs will be eaten by Americans 
between Memorial Day and Labor Day. During 
the July 4th weekend alone (the biggest hot-dog 
holiday of the year), 155 million will be downed. 

Every year, Americans eat an average of 60 hot 
dogs each. They are clearly one of the country’s 
most loved, but most misunderstood, comfort 
foods. 

Like most great events in History, there are 
varying accounts of how it all began and 
who started it. The history of the Hot Dog is 
no different. You will find many references 
throughout history to the origins of a Hot 
Dog-like thing called a sausage. Here are 
some stories of how the Hot Dog was born. 

The invention of the Hot Dog, is often 
attributed to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase 
Exposition. However, similar sausages were 
made and consumed in Europe, particularly 
in Germany, as early as 1864, and the earliest 
example of a hot dog bun dates to New York 
City in the 1860s. German immigrants appear 
to have sold hot dogs, along with milk 
rolls and sauerkraut, from pushcarts 
in New York City’s Bowery during the 
1860s. The Hot Dog’s association with 
baseball also predates the 1904 World’s 
Fair. Chris von der Ahe, owner of the 
St Louis Browns, sold Hot Dogs at his 
ballpark in the 1880s. 

Who’s Served the First Hot Dog? 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 
first happened. Specific people were 
have been credited for for supposedly 
inventing the Hot Dog. Charles 
Feltman and Antonoine Feuchtwanger were 
among the few. 

In 1867, Charles Feltman, a German butcher, 
opened up the first Coney Island hot dog 
stand in Brooklyn, New York and sold 3,684 
dachshund sausages in a roll during his first 
year in business He is also credited with the 
idea of the warm bun. 

In 1880 a German peddler, Antonoine 
Feuchtwanger, sold hot sausages in the streets 
of St. Louis, Missouri. He would supply white 
gloves with each purchase so that his customers 
would not burn their hands while eating the 
sausage. He saw his profits going down because 
the customers kept taking the gloves and 
walking off with them. His wife suggested that 
he put the sausages in a split bun instead. He 
reportedly asked his brother-in-law, a baker, for 
help. The baker improvised long soft rolls that 
fit the meat, thus inventing the hot dog bun. 
When he did that, the Hot Dog was born. He 
called them red hots. 

Although the exact origins of the Chicago 
Dog are not documented, Vienna Beef of 
Chicago claims the “Chicago-style” Hot Dog 
was invented by two European immigrants 
at the Chicago World’s Fair and Columbian 
Exhibition in 1893. 

What’s in a name? Another story that riles 
serious hot dog historians is how term “Hot 

Dog” came about. Some say the word was 
coined in 1901 at the New York Polo Grounds 
on a cold April day. Vendors were hawking hot 
dogs from portable hot water tanks shouting 
“They’re red hot! Get your dachshund sausages 
while they’re red hot!” A New York Journal 
sports cartoonist, Tad Dorgan, observed the 
scene and hastily drew a cartoon of barking 
dachshund sausages nestled warmly in rolls. 
Not sure how to spell “dachshund” he simply 
wrote “hot dog!” The cartoon is said to have 
been a sensation, thus coining the term “hot 
dog.” However, historians have been unable to 
find this cartoon, despite Dorgan’s enormous 
body of work and his popularity. 


1893 - The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, also 
called the Columbian Exposition, brought 
thousands of visitors who consumed large 


quantities of sausage sold by vendors. People 
liked this food that was easy to eat, convenient, 
and inexpensive. 

Also in the same year, it is claimed that sausages 
became the standard fare at baseball parks. 
Some historians claim that Chris Von der Ahe 
(1851-1913), owner of a St. Louis Bar and the 
St. Louis Browns major league baseball team, 
introduced sausages to go with his already 
popular beer. He was a colorful character 
himself. A large man who wore loud, checkered 
clothing, Chris sat in a special box behind third 
base with a whistle and binoculars. He used 
the whistle to get the attention of players, for 
someone to get him a beer, or for special cops 
he employed for personal use and to keep tabs 
on his players. He bought the Browns in order 
to put himself in the limelight and to advertise 
his saloon business. 
Historians, to this day, have not found any 
research to back up the claim that hot dogs were 
sold at Sportsman’s Park.
Truly, “Necessity is the Mother of invention.” = 
hot dog bunThe popularity of the hot dog and baseball – I 
know this may be very difficult for some Dodger 
fans but the love of the hotdog and baseball did 
not start with the Dodgers. 
Program Note This Sunday Radio Show will be 
on at 2 PM KLAA AM 830 Dining with Dills 


4TH OF JULY BBQ’D 
CORNISH HENS 
INGREDIENTS: 

3 cloves Garlic crushed 
1 tb Seasoned salt 
1/2 c Oil 
1c Fresh lemon juice 
12 tsp Italian Salad dressing 
1/2 c Chopped onions 
1 Pepper 
1 ts Crushed thyme 
4 Rock Cornich Hens, giblets removed 


DIRECTIONS: 

Blend garlic, seasoned salt, oil, lemon juice, dressing, onions, pepper, and thyme. Marinate 
the birds overnight in the refrigerator. 

Cut the birds lengthwise. 

Cook on outside grill, bone side down 10 minutes, flesh side down 5 minutes, alternating 
10 minutes and 5 minutes in this manner for about an hour and basting with marinade 
frequently (at least every 5 minutes) while barbequing. 

Serves 8. 

If you can’t get outside to barbecue, just use the oven method: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 


Place skin side up in a shallow pan, baste with marinade, cover with foil and roast for 30 
minutes. 

Remove foil and brush with marinade again. Roast again uncovered for 20-30 minutes 
(brush with marinade again after about 10 minutes). 

Test for doneness: drumsticks should be soft and juices should not be tinged with pink 
when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a fork. 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com