Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?

Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?





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ast Memorial Day, Merriam Webster’s Dictionary made waves in American pop culture by proclaiming that the hot dog is a sandwich. Online, is-a-hot-dog-a-sandwich-driven chaos ensued. Celebrities and NFL players weighed in. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (unbelievably, an actual organization) released an "official statement" refuting the dictionary’s stance. Notable chefs are no less divided on the matter. Anthony Bourdain is a staunch sandwich-hot dog segregationist, while Gordon Ramsay succinctly told Bon Appetit magazine that hot dogs were one and the same. With Memorial Day and the specter of miscategorizing one’s wiener looming, the public will again search for clarity on the status of hot dogs. Below, in the spirit of The Perspective: Essentials, we’ll look at three reasons why a hot dog is a sandwich, and three reasons why a hot dog is a hot dog.


A hot dog is a sandwich.



#1: Hot dogs stand up to the English language’s test for sandwiches.

You can’t fight city hall, or the dictionary. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a sandwich as “two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between.” And while describing a wiener as “filling” might seem a bit awkward, it is the generic nature of the term “filling” that allows for such wondrous variety in sandwiches. “Filling” means freedom – the freedom to make bread a most versatile canvas – for peanut butter, egg salad, and even hot dogs.


#2: Hot dogs and sandwiches are the same in form and function.

Hot dogs and sandwiches are complete meals delivered by means of bread, unified in their portability and relatively lack of mess (well, as long as you stay away from chilidogs). More than allowing diners to pack several food groups into a compact unit, sandwiches are vehicles of self-expression. Are you a minimalist or maximalist? A non-conformist or a traditionalist? The hot dog is but one of the many sandwich-y ways we express personality through cuisine.


#3: Sandwich enthusiasts have dubbed hot dogs with eternal sandwich-hood.

I defy our readers to show me the man who loves sandwiches more than "Scanwiches" founder Jon Chonko, a New York graphic designer so devoted to the beauty of lunchtime delights, he’s dedicated years to scanning them before he eats them. More than preserving these sandwiches for posterity, scanwiches brings clarity to the question of whether hot dogs are sandwiches by featuring in its catalogue a multitude of bread-wrapped links, from the humble frankfurter with onion and ketchup to the bold Italian sausage with peppers. If ia hot dog is sandwich enough for Jon, it should be sandwich enough for us all.


A hot dog is a hot dog.



#1: Hot dogs and sandwiches have their own distinct histories.

Hot dogs hail from the sausage-loving societies of central Europe. While there is some controversy around whether the first hot dog recipe was perfected in Vienna (Wein), Austria or Frankfurt, Germany, there is no confusing the hot dog’s decidedly Germanic origins with the English origins of the sandwich. While the frankfurter celebrated the ancient joy of stuffing innards with meat, the sandwich’s invention was purely utilitarian, serving as a frequent meal solution for the gambling-addicted Earl of Sandwich, who could not be bothered to leave a gambling hall to dine.


#2: Sandwiches and hot dogs are always separate on restaurant menus.

Menus provide a great reference point for where the food industry stands on the question of whether a hot dog is a sandwich. All great American cafes offer a variety of sandwiches, and the “hot dog sandwich” is conspicuously missing from most of them. American staples like Denny’s and Applebee’s (which liberally includes tacos in its list of sandwiches) sell loads of sandwiches, but no hot dogs. And if the absence of hot dogs from the sandwich sections of iconic American chain restaurants is not enough to convince you, let’s see what the sandwich aficionados at the world-famous Carnegie Deli have to say about the matter. You guessed it – one very long section for sandwiches, and one much shorter section for frankfurters (because hot dogs are not sandwiches).


#3: The people have spoken.

Whatever the culinary élite may have to say about the definition of a sandwich, terms are ultimately defined by the people who use them. A 2016 poll found that 57% of Americans do not believe that hot dogs are sandwiches. America has spoken: sandwiches are groovy, but the hot dog is sacrosanct.



Bottom Lines


Whether you deem a hot dog part of the sandwich family or a distinct food, the best way to bridge the hot dog-sandwich divide is to enjoy one with friends.



This article was written by Chaya Benyamin in collaboration with The Perspective, where you can get both sides of the big debates and trending news stories.



Top Comment

Walrus the Tree
Walrus the Tree

A hot dog is not meat between 2 pieces of bread. It is meat inside a cut made in one piece of bread.
Granted, the same is true of a sub, however, if the top half of my sub's bread broke away, making it two pieces of bread, I would not particularly care. If my hot dog's bread broke into pieces, now I'm worried about my grip being too loose and my meat falling to the ground, also I have to be careful putting it down on my plate so it doesn't just fall too low to pick it back up as one whole thing.
And so, my rule of sandwichitude is as follows: for a bread-surrounded food to be considered a sandwich, its bread must be in acceptable condition when it is in two pieces, one resting on top and one holding the bottom.

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