Have you tried our Frankfurter hot dogs? They are a collaboration with Olympia Provisions, the wonderful charcuterie business in Portland.
Besides hearing that they are delicious, some customers also ask why are they so long. So here’s a hot dog primer!
Why are they so long?
There are 1000s of sausages made regionally in Germany and throughout Europe. Some are short and thick, some are long and thin, with everything in between. The Frankfurter we sell is the long, thin type. It was traditionally long and thin because of the type of casing that was used.
Frankfurter or Wiener?
The name reflects that it originated in the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The other location for its origination may be Vienna, Austria (there is ongoing regional debate!) which is why we in the US call hotdogs both Frankfurters and Wieners. Wien is the German word for Vienna, so something that comes from Wien is a Wien-er. If it hails from Frankfurt, it’s a Frankfurt-er.
Both the Frankfurter and Wiener are traditionally long and thin and served with a small bun that acts like a (delicious) handle or mitt, with mustard applied to the sausage.
Street food
It functions often as German street food to eat while out and about: a perfectly grilled long, thin sausage in a crispy fresh bun with your favorite mustard makes doing errands around town very satisfying.
Bread-to-meat ratio
For Americans, this question about length may be about the bread-to-sausage ratio. The ratio is important, as many can attest. Most of us have eaten hotdogs in buns that are too big, giving you a mouthful of uninteresting bread with a tiny bit of sausage -- very unsatisfying, especially if the bread is standard, grocery-store white bread. Germans are used to the small, fresh bun on a long sausage. In the US, our tradition developed with a thin bun of equal length as the medium sized sausage.
How to eat it?
You get to make this decision! Give the German style a try with a smaller (high quality) bun and enjoy the sausage with mustard and sauerkraut. Or cut the hotdog in half and eat it in a larger bun or in between two slices of crusty Italian bread. Since they are made by Olympia Provisions with meat exclusively grown at Deck Family Farm, you really can’t go wrong!
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