Saturday, August 07, 2010

Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut


Friday 16 July

Ever since July 4, we have been salivating for good ol' Amurrikin hot dogs and kraut. But in Barbara's New York childhood, hot dogs were all-beef "specials" from a kosher butcher, and the sauerkraut was the transcendent stuff, only vaguely related to cabbage, from the barrels of "Very Good," the legendary pickle man of the Essex Street Market.

Neither can be duplicated here in Porkopolis.

We settled for a dog-off between Kroger's of Findlay Market, whose North German Metts were billed as being "just like the hot dogs of your childhood," and once again, Eckerlin's plump garlic franks. The kraut came from Eckerlin's, and since it was far inferior to Mr. Very Good's sublime product, could be heated and mixed with Mr. Gene Green's horseradish mustard as a means of improvement.

Verdict: Eckerlin's garlic franks were more flavorful than Kroger's bland metts. The kraut, once doctored, was passable. We gobbled 'em down in seconds flat.

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