Cutting the mustard (Welcome to wiener country)

According to John Fox, a self-described hot dog fanatic from Union Township, North Jersey is home to some of the finest hot dogs that a few dollars can buy. So fine that he led a yellow school bus full of people Saturday on a hot dog-tasting tour to 10 eateries in Union, Hudson and Passaic counties. The day began at Galloping Hill, an 80-year-old hot dog stand in Union Township, where Fox and his wife, Pat, had their first date. Under the steamy noon sun, 27 mostly middle-age men and women ordered their first dog of the day.

Most wore custom shirts made for the second annual tour. These featured a smiling hot dog sitting atop the logo "E pluribus doggum unim stomacho." Most also knew each other, but only from the Web site www.roadfood.com . Here, food fanatics share tips about off-beat eateries, arranged by culinary topic.

"The one that we go on is (called) 'Hot Dogs, Sausages and Wursts.'" said Fox, 45. Fox is renowned among this group for his uncanny knowledge of hot dogs, their manufacture and preparation. Before each stop, Fox commented on the hot dogs that people were about to eat, noting if they were grilled or fried, made from beef or pork, and what company manufactures them.

"It's unbelievable. A hundred places, he could tell where their hot dogs are from," said Howard Weinberg, 55, who drove with his wife from Baltimore for the tour. Fox has found dogs that make people rave with delight in the most unlikely places. The golden palaces of hot dogs, as it turned out, are often nestled in dull, aging shopping centers in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. Most ate beyond their hearts' content. "Somebody get a wheelbarrow," one woman moaned in the bus.

"The nitrates are starting to make my brain turn to Jell-O," said Bill Mehlman, of Manhattan. "Why do I want to start singing 'I Am the Walrus, kook kook-a-choo,'" said Susan Wallace, 40, of Oak Ridge, referencing the Beatles song. By the next stop, the Hot Grill in Clifton, most people stood in line for a trademark chili- and mustard-slathered dog. Erwin Benz, 40, of Island Mills, N.Y., was halfway finished with his when he reflected. "Actually," he said of his 12th hot dog of the day, "it feels just as good as the first one."

So fine that he led a yellow school bus full of people Saturday on a hot dog-tasting tour to 10 eateries in Union, Hudson and Passaic counties.

Were you there?

Party on!

2 posted on 03/12/2006 9:09:21 PM PST by MotleyGirl70 (Most cats are democrats - did you ever meet a creature with such an inborn sense of entitlement?)

I'm all over it! I love dogs!

3 posted on 03/12/2006 9:12:40 PM PST by birbear (You know what? This is crap. We're going to stop this.)

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