The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
A hot dog is a dish consisting of a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener or a frankfurter. The names of these sausages commonly refer to their assembled dish. Hot dog preparation and condiments vary worldwide. Common condiments include mustard, ketchup, relish, onions in tomato sauce, and cheese sauce. Other toppings include sauerkraut, diced onions, jalapeños, chili, grated cheese, coleslaw, bacon and olives. Hot dog variants include the corn dog and pigs in a blanket. The hot dog's cultural traditions include the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
A corn dog is a wiener on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried. It originated in the United States and is commonly found in American cuisine.
A chili dog is a hot dog served in a bun and topped with a meat sauce, typically chili con carne. Additional toppings may include cheese, onions, and mustard. The style has multiple regional variations in the United States, many calling for specific and unique sauce ingredients, types of hot dogs, or types of buns and referred to regionally under region-specific names.
A Coney Island is a type of restaurant that is popular in the northern United States, particularly in Michigan, named after the Coney Island hot dog.
A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered, or less often grilled over charcoal.
Vienna sausage is a thin parboiled sausage traditionally made of pork and beef in a casing of sheep's intestine, then given a low-temperature smoking. The word Wiener is German for 'Viennese'. In Austria, the term Wiener is uncommon for this food item, which instead is usually called Frankfurter Würstl.
A Maxwell Street Polish consists of a grilled or fried length of Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and yellow mustard and optional pickled whole, green sport peppers, served on a bun. The sandwich traces its origins to Chicago's Maxwell Street market, and has been called one of "the classic foods synonymous with Chicago".
A Coney Island hot dog, Coney dog, or Coney is a hot dog in a bun topped with a savory meat sauce and sometimes other toppings. It is often offered as part of a menu of classic American diner dishes and often at Coney Island restaurants. It is largely a phenomenon related to immigration from Greece and the region of Macedonia to the United States in the early 20th century.
The Montreal hot dog, also known as a steamie, is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
An Italian hot dog is a type of hot dog popular in New Jersey, United States, made by Jimmy Buff and his wife Mary Racioppi. His family continues the restaurant Jimmy Buff's to this day. Other restaurants like Joe Joe's Italian Hot Dog in Toms River serve Italian hot dogs but Jimmy Buff's is nonetheless most widely known in New Jersey as the restaurant that first served Italian hot dogs and is most famous for their Italian hot dog.
The Polish Boy is a sausage sandwich native to Cleveland, Ohio. It consists of a link of kielbasa sausage placed in a bun, and covered with a layer of french fries, a layer of barbecue sauce and a layer of coleslaw. While the sausage is typically grilled, some establishments will quickly deep fry the sausage after grilling and prior to assembling the sandwich.
A cheese dog is a hot dog served with cheese or processed cheese on it or stuffed within it, as a filling.
The Carniolan sausage is a Slovenian parboiled sausage similar to what is known as kielbasa or Polish sausage in North America.
A bagel dog is a food item consisting of a full-size or miniature hot dog wrapped in bagel-style breading before or after cooking. They are similar in concept to a corn dog or pigs in a blanket. Bagel dogs are commonly available for purchase at prepared-food concession stands and frozen in grocery stores in the greater New York City, Chicago, and Cincinnati areas, but are more difficult to find elsewhere. Some bagel dogs are prepared using an actual bagel to wrap around the hot dog, rather than a bagel-like breading.
A Seattle-style hot dog, locally referred to as a Seattle Dog, is a hot dog served in a bun slathered with cream cheese. In Seattle the dogs are sold from food carts, especially outside stadiums on game day and as a late-night meal outside the city's music venues.
