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July Fourth Food: Hooray for the Hot Dog!
| Article
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17567 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1990 |
1,293 Words |
| Author
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Kay Shaw Nelson
Food and travel writer Kay Shaw Nelson has written for
numerous magazines and newspapers, including Gourmet, House
and Garden, Washingtonian, and the New York Times. The author
of thirteen cookbooks, she most recently published A Bonnie
Scottish Cookbook. |
For millions of Americans, this year's Fourth of July will be another star-spangled picnic. Already a glorious outdoor holiday with its parades, patriotic exercises, flamboyant oratory, and displays of fireworks, the Fourth's highlight is generally a lengthy meal -in the backyard, at the beach, in a park, or on a boat. Each of us has a favorite menu for this special day. For many, it's an old-fashioned meal remembered from childhood -a family picnic or community banquet served on long tables piled with plates of sandwiches, deviled eggs, potato salad, home-grown vegetables, baked ham or fried chicken, pickles, pies, fruit shortcakes, and cookies, washed down with watermelon and gallons of lemonade.
For me, however, nothing on the Fourth measures up to the joys of grilling hot dogs outside on a primitive barbecue. I'd be hard-pressed to think of any other food as closely associated with our Independence Day as the hot dog. Think of the number of meals, indoors or out, where you'll find the familiar juicy, plump franks broiled, braised, simmered, roasted, or barbecued; served in a soft yeast bun or on a stick or skewer, and basted with sauces of all descriptions. In fact, July has been National Hot Dog Month since 1957.
In one of his columns, humorist Russell Baker wrote, "The Fourth of July reminds me of hot dogs because for years I have felt an obligation to eat hot dogs on this holiday. Hot dogs have seemed like the patriotic things to eat." Then he wonders why they "should be the quintessence of patriotic eating," and "why he has this terrible sense of obligation to show the flag by eating them on patriotic occasions."
Why
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