« French felines | Home | Top Chef exit interviews »
Real hot dogs “New Yorkais”
By Ann | June 30, 2010
Breaking news: Real New York hot dogs are available in Paris! (Side note — who knew real New York hot dogs were so fetishized?) When I saw this real, New York hot dog cart outside La Grande Epicerie, I had to stop to sample a weiner. After all, I needed to know: Is there anything different about a hot dog that bills itself as “le vrai New Yorkais” but which is found Paris?
As it turns out, not really. Like their Big Apple counterparts, they’re kept in a vat of murky hot water.
At 2.50€, the price is equivalent. The bun is mushy, the mustard yellow, the dog is salty. The whole thing disappears quickly, and leaves you with a familiar disatisfied feeling.
According to the vendor, the hot dog stand was part of a campaign to bring more street food to Paris. And even though the dogs were selling “super well” she said the project would end on July 1st.
In fact, the biggest difference between a five-borough frankfurter and one found in the City of Light? Speed (or lack thereof). The vendor took about eight minutes to dish up our dog, giving new meaning to a New York minute.
Topics: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
June 30th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
This may or may not be very un-New York of me, but if I can’t have sweet relish on it, I don’t want a hot dog.
They didn’t happen to be all-beef, did they?
June 30th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
And where is the sauerkraut??
July 1st, 2010 at 12:53 am
The vendor also applied the condiments directly onto the roll before placing the hot dog. Grilled onions, like you can get at some hot dog stands in NY, would have also been a good touch, one I’m sure a French frank chef would have mastered. Also — far prefer spicy or Gulden’s brown mustard to the yellow stuff. But it was the softness of the roll, and the roll-to-dog ratio, that made this experience particularly authentic. Now if a baseball game breaks out at Les Arenes de Lutece, I’ll know something’s really amiss in this town …
July 1st, 2010 at 2:33 am
Only 8 minutes? Ha..That must be a new record..
July 7th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Camille — If I squint, I think I can see a sign that says 100% boeuf!
Dan — No sauerkraut, no grilled onions, only hot dogs in dirty water, just like grandma used to make. Yum?
Chris — Agree on the spicy mustard, but that wouldn’t be very VRAI New Yorkais, would it?
David — Maybe that WAS her attempt at New York speed…!
July 31st, 2010 at 4:12 am
http://adrianmoore.blogspot.com/2010/05/best-only-american-style-hot-dog-in.html