Here at Spoon University we like to ask the big questions. I’m talking hot button issues. What I’m about to ask is an age old question humankind has been grappling with for years… Is a hot dog a sandwich?
Religion, politics, and the classification of ballpark franks are a few topics that should not be discussed in general company. I know this is not an easy topic, but it’s the topics that are the most difficult to confront that demand the most attention.
I would like to present you with both sides of this debate. This is an open, safe platform for those who believe that hot dogs have sandwich-like qualities and for those who refute said claim to come together and engage in a respectful conversation.
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, there is such a thing) has declared that a hot dog is not a sandwich. I must question this source’s biases. I mean “hot dog” is contained within the name of the organization. However, if there was to be an authority on such an issue, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council seems like a pretty legit one. The council has says, “Limiting the hot dog’s significance by saying it’s ‘just a sandwich’ is like calling the Dalai Lama ‘just a guy’.”
The NHDSC upholds that hot dogs should be regarded as their own entity. A hot dog possess the significance to stand alone in the realm of food categorization. The NHDSC notes that the hot dog has its own persona, and that its name is not interchangeable with the term sandwich (“Sandwich, get your sandwich here!”… Doesn’t quite have the same ring).
I must concede that hot dogs do have distinct features that are alienating in comparison to traditional lunch meat sandwiches. However, by those regards don’t burgers also possess similar alienating characteristics? Where does this leave hot dog’s BBQ counterpart on the spectrum of food classification?
I guess this leads us to a larger question: What exactly makes a sandwich a sandwich? It is when we look to the definition of a sandwich that the pro-sandwich argument gains some more legitimacy. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines a sandwich as “two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between.”
A hot dog fulfills these basic requirements, but there’s just something not quite right about calling a hot dog a sandwich. A hot dog could technically still stand alone as a hot dog without the bun, and that’s definitely not a sandwich.
I understand both sides of this hot dog conundrum. I am not entirely convinced that a hot dog is a sandwich, nor am I entirely convinced it is not; I will leave it to you to decide. In the meantime, I will continue to relish in this controversy.