July is hot dog month and this probably has to do with summer being here, bbq’ing, camping, and picnicking on the rise. Today was national hotdog day so naturally I had to take advantage of this joyous occasion by celebrating with bbq’ing my very own hot dogs.

 Now, nobody really knows the origin of the original hot dog but the Germans claim it was them and the people of Vienna think it’s them. Either way, someone over there created the hot dog and North Americans eat them like they’re going out of style.

The hot dog vendors downtown are hard to ignore, and I can barely resist the aroma wafting through the air. Japa dog has also gained popularity by created Japanese style hotdogs loaded with all kinds of toppings.  With some stiff competition I had to create some of my own gourmet hotdogs.

I went to the store and picked up some Angus beef ball park hot dogs, thin style hotdog buns and a few other ingredients to create some international hotdogs on national hotdog day.

The first one I made was the Ukrainian hotdog and topped it with a sour cream and chive dressing, mustard, sauerkraut, cheddar cheese, bacon, and fried onions. I absolutely loved this one because I could still taste the hotdog, the crunch of the bacon added a smoky pork flavour, and the sauerkraut and onions was a tart sweet taste that complimented the hint of sour cream. The second hotdog was a Mexican dog. This one has a large spreading of guacamole, cheddar cheese, sliced tomato, jalapenos and salsa. I love Mexican and guacamole and salsa are some of my favourite condiments. I thought these condiments on a hot dog were great. J thought it tasted like a hot dog taco and preferred the Ukrainian dog a bit better. I couldn’t decide which I liked better, they were both great and made a wonderful meal on National Hotdog day!