A reader responded to a recent social media post I offered about hot dogs, asking if I knew anyone who refers to hot dogs as Frankfurters, as they were once commonly called.
She insisted no one calls hot dogs Frankfurters anymore. Everyone, she insisted, calls them either hot dogs or simply "dogs".
She has a point. Everyone I know calls them hot dogs. I call them hot dogs. It's what we call them in the Midwest and in most other parts of our homogenized culture.
But it wasn't always that way, at least not in my childhood home. Dad was a German Lutheran and was raised by German Lutherans, on a farm near present day Schaumburg, which today is one of the most homogenized communities in the country.
Dad called hot dogs Frankfurters (sometimes Franks), and so did many of the other old Germans and Dutch guys who resided in my neighborhood, back when I was a sprout. Most of them purchased their Frankfurters at Bob's Meat Market, a popular full-service butcher shop that closed it's doors when Bob retired.
Dad purchased a variety of items there, including deli meats, which he called cold cuts, another name we don't hear much anymore.
Dad purchased a variety of items there, including deli meats, which he called cold cuts, another name we don't hear much anymore.
Dad's selection of cold cuts included hard salami, roast beef, summer sausage, pastrami, head cheese, and liverwurst. Those last two items were popular only with the older folks back in the day. Some might enjoy them today, but I don't know those individuals. I haven't seen head cheese available in a deli counter in decades, and can't recall the last time I saw liverwurst. Dad loved both and enjoyed them mustard and a thick slice of white onion.
Dad enjoyed a number of items that I still enjoy today. Sauerbraten, sauerkraut, beef rouladen, sardines and most types of sausage are some of the items dad introduced me to that can still be found on my dinner table.
I'm not planning on buying any head cheese or liverwurst soon, but I'll try to reintroduce Frankfurter and cold cuts to our culinary vocabulary - out of respect for my dad and just to see how readers react.
Thank you for reading. Questions and comments are always welcome.
