Today Is National Hot Dog Day So Eat A Fenway Frank
It is National Hot Dog Day today, celebrating a food item that has become a staple in baseball stadiums across the country. Fenway Park is no exception with its infamous “Fenway Frank.’’
According to The History Channel, stuffing meats into casings is not a new development:
“The world’s first sausage may have been made as far back as 64 A.D., when Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar’s cook, Gaius, stuffed pig intestines with ground meat in a flash of culinary inspiration. After eating the sausage, the emperor is said to have declared, ‘I have discovered something of great importance.’ If your favorite ballpark treat is a fresh hot dog overflowing with ketchup, mustard and sauerkraut, you just might concur.’’
By the 15th century, the city of Frankfurt had created the “frankfurter,’’ and by the 19th century Vienna had made the “wiener.’’ European immigrants brought both of these to the United States in the 20th century. And the rest… well, is history.
Hot dogs started being sold on Coney Island by Charles Feltman, a German immigrant. Some even credit him as inventing the hot dog on a bun.
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, that is a real thing) offers some pretty fun facts regarding hot dogs and their history of being sold at baseball games:
– “Hot Dogs once again dominated fans’ favorite stadium fare. Sixty-three percent of fans listed hot dogs as the one ballpark food they could not live without. Peanuts ranked second with 18 percent, followed by pizza, cotton candy and, finally, cracker jacks.’’
– “Babe Ruth was voted most likely to win a hot dog eating contest among current and former players.’’
– “Legend has it the Babe once ate 12 hot dogs and eight bottles of soda between games of a doubleheader.’’
– “Americans eat 7 billion hot dogs during peak season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That’s 818 hot dogs per second. Nearly 6,000 were consumed in the time it’s taken you to read this far.’’
– “An average baseball hot dog vendor sells an about 150 hot dogs per game and 10,000 12,000 hot dogs per season.’’
So, Bostonians, take a few minutes today to celebrate your home town dog, the Fenway Frank.
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