A Hot Dog Chicago Style?? What?  Really?  What are you making?  When you search the Internet for Chicago-Style Hot Dogs or Chicago Dog’s,  there seems to be a lot that comes up under “Hot Dog Chicago Style?”   Why is that?  ANY true Chicagoan knows that it’s a Chicago-Style Hot Dog, or as a local would say, it’s a “Chicago Dog.”

Just to clarify what a “Chicago-Style Hot Dog” is and how it originated, this is the break down of the TRUE story and origin of the Chicago Dog, embarrassingly called the “hot dog Chicago style”……  What??

“Hot Dog Chicago Style???  Really??”

There seem to be many variations as to what is a “Hot Dog Chicago Style”  (UGH, that makes me want to PUKE!), a Chicago- Style Hot Dog (see Wikipedia proper spelling).  Who would put a Hot Dog, before Chicago?    Chicago is the greatest city in the world and we are second to the hot dog?  It’s a Chicago-Style Hot Dog…  plain and simple.  Anyway, that’s not why I am writing this today, I am writing to  explain that I have done my research and have dissected the Chicago Dog to find out what it’s TRUE origins are.  In my last post I mentioned that I was searching the Internet high and low for all the true Chicago Dog genealogy, well, here what i have found and that is my conclusion.

While the hot dog and the bun are both important, it’s the toppings of a Chicago hot dog make it truly unique. Nowhere else in the country does a hot dog come with such a colorful array of fixings, hence the term “dragged through the garden dog.“

I did notice that it seems most people are always focused on the whole concept of the Chicago Dog lacking ketchup and don’t ever think about all the other special ingredients that entails the fine workings of a TRUE Chicago Dog.  Let’s take for instance,  the NEON green relish and the sport peppers, these are two things that just can’t be bought everywhere and they are some times really hard to find out side of the Chicago Land area.

Let’s start with the neon green relish, why is it so bright and where did this neon green relish originate anyway?  I had to do some searching, but I found that it appears as Superdawg was the first to have the fancy neon green relish known distinctively only on the Chicago Dog.  But where did they get this from?   Where did they get the bright neon colored relish come from?

Neon Green Relish for Chicago Dog

Neon-green sweet-pickle relish - It’s unknown who first created this distinctive condiment or why, although Maurie and Flaurie Berman, owners of Superdawg , still call it “piccalilli,” say they have been serving it since opening in 1949, and believe they first introduced it to the Chicago hot dog.  When asked, Flaurie Berman said she couldn’t remember when they didn’t have the neon green relish.  The most logical story of the origins of the fluorescent green tint is that some pickle manufacturer tried to make up for uneven hues in his product by adding green food coloring and went a little too far. The bright-colored relish tends to be a little sweeter than the plain relish used by minimalists like Gene & Jude’s in River Grove. The relish fits the “boldness” of the colorful sandwich and obviously adds to the beauty of the Chicago Dog.

Chopped White Onion

White Onions – you must use raw white onions, as no other onions are accepted. The reason being is white onions have a cleaner, milder taste than the much more common yellow variety, better for serving raw. They also tend to hold their crispness and moisture better when chopped. The bright white sets off the other ingredients nicely, again adding to the color scheme while adding an important flavor! Other hot dogs used grilled or sauteed onions, that is a big NO, NO on the Chicago Dog!

Ripe Tomato Wedge for a Chicago Dog

Ripe, red tomatoes – Tomatoes are essential to the dragged-through-the-garden dog and served at most stands, though minimalist fans eschew them.  The tomato must be sliced into wedges to be served properly, diced or chopped tomatoes are not proper Chicago Dog Style.  This is where others from beyond Chicago often make the mistake.

Ripeness can be an often-elusive ideal, because of this, Superdawg still remains unique in serving a pickled green tomato wedge in stead of fresh red wedges, an innovation Maurie Berman says they instituted early on because the quality of fresh tomatoes is so unreliable. 

Claussen Pickle spear for Chicago Dog

Kosher-style dill pickle – Chicago’s taste in pickles runs to fresh and crunchy, the style New Yorkers call “half sour” and others call “new dills.” “Kosher-style” means the pickles are naturally fermented in a salt brine (though many manufacturers add vinegar as a preservative) and flavored with garlic.

Chicago is home to a number of pickle makers, including Chicago Pickle Company (aka Chipico, established in 1925 and now owned by Vienna Beef), Puckered Pickle Co. and Claussen.

Sport Peppers

Sport peppers. – These pickled, green hot peppers, like most chilies, are a cultivar of Capsicum annuum, typically about an inch and a half long and a half inch in diameter.Sport Peppers are great sliced on pizza, diced or chopped on sandwiches, or placed whole in cold cut subs or hoagies. But their most famous use is on Chicago Style Hot Dogs.  These small, hot peppers  are also called Mississippi Sport Peppers  and are sold “pickled” in jars elsewhere around the US.

The origin of the Sport Pepper, well, according to the “pepper expert” a man named,  Dave DeWitt, he speculates that the term ‘sport’ probably originated because they are used as condiments on hot dogs sold in baseball parks.  But in another book I found, the term sport peppers supposedly originated because they didn’t burn your hand when you picked them.  Either way, they are a key element in making your Chicago Dog as they add that extra zest and crunch with a splash of spice or heat, whatever you may call it.

Over Dog S

Celery salt.   And finally we have the Celery Salt, for many, a sprinkling of celery salt is the “final added touch” or  of the Chicago hot dog.   Where and how did celery salt end up on a Chicago Dog?   Well, there is actually no proof, but this added shake of salt, could possibly date back to the Maxwell Street vegetable-cart origins, where they had a variety of the toppings, and it certainly points up the flavor of the onions and tomatoes and pickles.   Another possible note, is that from the 19th century through the 1920s, local farmers touted Chicago as celery capital of the United States, so perhaps a mixture of ground celery seed and salt just seemed a natural add on to a Chicago Dog.

There you have it, the total break down of the origin and anatomy of the Chicago-Style Hot Dog, aka Hot Dog Chicago Style, or the Chicago Dog.

The anatomy of a true Chicago Dog

You can clearly see that there is a difference between an average hot dog and what those outside of Chicago call a “hot dog Chicago style”, which if they had any clue or idea or had ever lived in Chicago, they would have known it’s called a Chicago Dog.   Either way, hot dog Chicago style or Chicago Style hot dog, if they do love them and are at least attempting to make them, I would have to say, I guess I am a fan of theirs too…..

Don’t just stop by our site, please tell us about where you get your favorite Chicago-Style Dog, leave a comment, rate and review your favorite Hot Dog Stand right here.

Thanks!
Chicago Style Hot Dog

References:
http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2010/07/20/chicago-hot-dog-yellow-mustard-neon-green-relish/
http://hotsaucedaily.com/2011/03/30/sport-peppers/