Post: #1

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-americ...15942.html

Quote:Americans spent $1.7 billion on hot dogs last year—and that’s just at supermarkets; it doesn’t count wieners purchased at restaurants and sports facilities or from street vendors. And no day is better for hot dog consumption than the Fourth of July, when Americans are expected to eat about 150 million of them—enough to stretch from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles more than five times.

While those numbers are impressive, overall hot dog sales are declining. According to figures from IRI, a Chicago-based market-research firm, sales dropped more than 3 percent in 2012 from 2011, following two consecutive years of smaller declines. Figures for this year are looking soft as well. The slump is surprising in light of the sluggish economy—hot dogs are usually considered the ideal recession foodstuff.

The President of Nathan's Famous:

Quote:One brand has bucked the downward trend: Nathan’s Famous (NATH), whose sales are up 17 percent from last year. “Naturally, I think it’s because we have the best hot dog,” says President Wayne Norbitz. “In tough times, if people are going to eat fewer hot dogs, they often choose a premium product. They choose to indulge.” Nathan’s also gets a promotional boost from its annual July 4 hot-dog-eating contest at Coney Island.

And the gem of the article if you found it:

Quote:None of this surprises Josh Ozersky, a food journalist and historian. He predicts the hot dog will become increasingly marginalized as the U.S. palate broadens. “I would be willing to bet that more Americans, and especially younger Americans, now eat nachos or tacos than hot dogs,” he says. But what about the many outlets that serve nachos on hot dogs? “That’s just proof of the desperate state of the hot dog!” he says. “That’s like a middle-aged actress who gets Botox and breast implants to try to stay relevant.”

Post: #2

nachos on hot dogs sounds disgusting. I sometimes get a hot dog when i go to costco, but otherwise, meh I could do without them.

Post: #3

More like, we know what's in them now and it's disgusting.

Post: #4

(06-30-2013 08:07 AM)Gallego2006 Wrote:  More like, we know what's in them now and it's disgusting.

Post: #5

I like a good hot dog cooked on the grill. Not as often as I used to now tho cause they certainly aren't the healthiest of food choices.

Post: #6

I love a good hot dog.

Might have to go hunt one down now. Sans-nachos.

Post: #7

Pretty sure we have some chilli chevups in the fridge - actual beef sausages, sans shitty plastic skin

Post: #8

I bet you'd see a much stronger upward trend in the sales of premium, high quality sausages. No sense in eating a bland adulterated hot dog when you can get a nice mergez, chorizo or kielbasa.

Post: #9

I never understood the hate on hot dogs anyways, even when mostly leftover meats and "mechanically-processed" chicken are used.

Okay, sure, the additives present a problem, and we should demand real ingredients in our food, but the rest is people bitching about mixing of meats and "throw-aways." In other cultures, it's common for every part of an animal to be eaten, and it's a lot less wasteful. As for high levels of salt, etc, no different from other processed foods. Just eat sparingly.

The whole issue is a cultural gag reflex pertaining to unpleasant realities about where food comes from.

For instance, they throw these videos at us with warnings of "don't watch before you eat," and it's just meat being processed through machinery, blended, seasoned, and molded. So what? I've done it on a smaller scale making meatballs in my kitchen.

If most Americans had to watch a cow get bled out and butchered into bits to make hamburgers and steak - or, god forbid, be handed a knife and asked to cut a throat themselves for once - they'd probably get a bit weak in the stomach then too.

Like Soma's post up above. The visual makes us squeamish because we don't like to think of our food having that type of consistency, but other than that, what's the big deal? I got a laugh, but still...

Abroad, I can and do eat every animal part I come across. There's very little I wouldn't eat; fats and organs specifically hold some much-needed nutrition. Of course, I was never big on the cheapie dogs anyways. I liked premium sausage-style dogs with real flavor even before real food was cool.

Post: #10

I hate hot dogs yesterday. With a chick, at the house, in fact.

My shit is gourmet, though.

Post: #11

On a serious note these things do offer some looks into the general state of the economy. Baseball is another, attendance is down league wide and it's the most affordable and family friendly option for sports entertainment.

When smokes and liquor start to decline then to start running for the hills. Those generally increase during tough times as people are stressed the fuck out and need a vice, so if it does start drop it's a really grime indicator if it does not happen during a time of growth.

Back to hot dogs. I like them if they are good quality. I don't like beef hot dogs, only chicken, and I always prefer a good quality sausage evrey other time instead though.

Post: #12

(06-30-2013 08:11 AM)Soma Wrote:  

(06-30-2013 08:07 AM)Gallego2006 Wrote:  More like, we know what's in them now and it's disgusting.

Not sure why, but that reminds me of 2 girls, 1 cup.

(06-30-2013 10:17 AM)basilransom Wrote:  I bet you'd see a much stronger upward trend in the sales of premium, high quality sausages. No sense in eating a bland adulterated hot dog when you can get a nice mergez, chorizo or kielbasa.

I dumped hot dogs years. We call them "lips and buttholes". Most decent grocery stores carry good fresh sausage. I butterfly in the skillet or on the grill, and put in a split top potato bun. Throw in a piece of cheese and some of that sour German mustard, and you got a winner.

   

I got schooled in Texas by a grill master to throw the whole damn roll on the grill. Boudin is still my favorite, but it's hard to come by outside of LA. If you want to blow the mind off of guests, make some boudin balls.

Post: #13

There's a few awesome hot dog shops in my city. The 2 I've tried are both run by German guys, serving fucking bomb Kranskies/Bratwursts on well above average buns. In general, processed dogs aren't too bad on the taste buds, but usually make me feel like shit if I have more than 1

Post: #14

I think it's about time I pull myself into little America for a day. So far between this site and Facebook, I'm craving a Meatball sub, a Bratwurst, a cigar, and a gin and tonic. Fuck it maybe some wine too.

Love going thai style but sometimes you need those tastes from home.

Post: #15

For the L.A. guys, if you want awesome cold sausages (not a restaurant), check out: http://www.yelp.com/biz/european-deluxe-...erly-hills . It's on Doheny and Olympic. Great South African beef jerky too, aka biltong.

For a restaurant, Jeff's Gourmet right nearby is pretty good, and kosher so the meat quality is at least decent. They also sell refrigerated ones, but the ones sold hot at the restaurant taste much better than any I've made at home.

Quote:I never understood the hate on hot dogs anyways, even when mostly leftover meats and "mechanically-processed" chicken are used.

Okay, sure, the additives present a problem, and we should demand real ingredients in our food, but the rest is people bitching about mixing of meats and "throw-aways." In other cultures, it's common for every part of an animal to be eaten, and it's a lot less wasteful. As for high levels of salt, etc, no different from other processed foods. Just eat sparingly.

The whole issue is a cultural gag reflex pertaining to unpleasant realities about where food comes from.

If most Americans had to watch a cow get bled out and butchered into bits to make hamburgers and steak - or, god forbid, be handed a knife and asked to cut a throat themselves for once - they'd probably get a bit weak in the stomach then too.

For me, it's just the sheer disconnectedness, going from one distinct part of a single animal, to hundreds or thousands of animals squashed and melded together.

I agree though, if you're alarmed by what you're eating, you're some combination of dumb, ignorant and pussy. I always hear girls saying, "I saw a cow get slaughtered, and then I decided never to eat animals again." What did you think was happening? People who prefer blissful ignorance to coarse reality tend to be weak.

Post: #16

As a kid, when I visited family down in North Carolina, I saw pigs, cows and chickens slaughtered and prepped. I know where it all comes from and how it gets to me, and I was never bothered by it. I saw how pigs eat and live, and was unmoved by that either. Some folks, even knowing that certain animals are raised to be slaughtered, want to know that they're somehow treated like pets, and loved before ending up on their tables. Granted, I don't want the animals to be tortured, but come on. Kids on the farm learn early not to get attached to the animals, and that they aren't pets. The animal that you're petting and playing with is going to be on someone's table at some point.

Watching travel/food shows from around the world illustrates just how good we have it. The parts that we want to throw away ALL gets eaten everywhere else. In some very high end restaurants, their taking the innards, dressing them up, and charging discriminating diners a fortune for it, while people all over the world don't know what the big deal is. Certain kinds of fish, that if caught in their nets, were tossed back because they were considered garbage fish, octopus and squid (cooked in its own ink) among them. At some point someone figured out how to cook and enjoy it. Hot dogs are a dressed-up version of the kinds of parts that get eaten everywhere else, and many sausage are the same, yet sausage has never gotten the bad pub that hot dogs do. If you look at a lot of what southerners eat (pig ears, feet and tails, chitlins', beef tripe, etc.), those were the parts tossed away that they had to find a way to make a meal out of. Now that shit is gourmet...hahaha!

Post: #17

I remember hunting around the grocery store for cheap protein, and cheap hot dogs sounded ideal until I looked at the nutrition info and found out they're composed almost entirely out of fat. I think they've got the protein content just down to the bare minimum required to keep the hot dog's shape when cooked rather than having it melt into a puddle of hot fat.

Post: #18

(06-30-2013 03:48 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  Some folks, even knowing that certain animals are raised to be slaughtered, want to know that they're somehow treated like pets, and loved before ending up on their tables.

Is the chicken local?




"His name was Collin..."

Post: #19

(06-30-2013 03:48 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  In some very high end restaurants, their taking the innards, dressing them up, and charging discriminating diners a fortune for it, while people all over the world don't know what the big deal is. Certain kinds of fish, that if caught in their nets, were tossed back because they were considered garbage fish, octopus and squid (cooked in its own ink) among them. At some point someone figured out how to cook and enjoy it. Hot dogs are a dressed-up version of the kinds of parts that get eaten everywhere else, and many sausage are the same, yet sausage has never gotten the bad pub that hot dogs do. If you look at a lot of what southerners eat (pig ears, feet and tails, chitlins', beef tripe, etc.), those were the parts tossed away that they had to find a way to make a meal out of. Now that shit is gourmet...hahaha!

Speaking of stuff that gets tossed out, meat can be an extremely cheap source of high quality calories if... you ask for the fat trimmings. People in America think fat is bad, so they're always trimming off those big globs of fat. Go to a place that sells grass fed beef, or New Zealand lamb, and ask for the fat trimmings, and you'll get it for as little as $1 or $2 per pound. Then you can render that into tallow, and it's shelf stable for several months. Scoop it out and use it for eggs, rice, stir fry... anything culinary you'd use coconut oil for. Fat has a lot more calorie per pound than protein does, so that fat goes a long way towards feeding you.

Unfortunately, there are very few local butchers left; what supermarkets do is glorified meat cutting. So often the fat is trimmed off before it ever gets to the store. Just ask and you'll find out. And make sure to ask several different people on the staff, because there's a 50% chance the guy you ask is a dumbfuck who doesn't know the deal.

If SWPLs continue on their trajectory, I could see local, high end butchers staging a comeback in select areas. They probably already have in NYC.

Post: #20

(06-30-2013 04:52 PM)SpiderKing Wrote:  

(06-30-2013 03:48 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  Some folks, even knowing that certain animals are raised to be slaughtered, want to know that they're somehow treated like pets, and loved before ending up on their tables.

Is the chicken local?

"His name was Collin..."

Funny, that took me to this:

Post: #21

(06-30-2013 04:53 PM)basilransom Wrote:  If SWPLs continue on their trajectory, I could see local, high end butchers staging a comeback in select areas. They probably already have in NYC.

That would be a damn good thing to have comeback.

One of the best things about Europe are the markets/butchershops/fishmongers etc.

Post: #22

   

Post: #23

Post: #24

(06-30-2013 05:03 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(06-30-2013 04:53 PM)basilransom Wrote:  If SWPLs continue on their trajectory, I could see local, high end butchers staging a comeback in select areas. They probably already have in NYC.

That would be a damn good thing to have comeback.

One of the best things about Europe are the markets/butchershops/fishmongers etc.

I really miss this. I grew up in East/Spanish Harlem, and back then, there was a small fish market right across the street from the #6 subway entrance on 103rd Street. My dad used to grab crabs, clams, an occasional lobster and all kinds of fish from there (he grew up in a seaport town - Charleston, SC). La Marqueta, which was along Park Avenue under the Metro-North train tracks, also had fish, produce, and all kinds of goods that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans had back home. My dad used to also hit a local butcher shop. We have a couple of generations that probably don't know what a butcher shop is - everything comes from the supermarket for the most part.

Post: #25

(06-30-2013 05:41 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  

(06-30-2013 05:03 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(06-30-2013 04:53 PM)basilransom Wrote:  If SWPLs continue on their trajectory, I could see local, high end butchers staging a comeback in select areas. They probably already have in NYC.

That would be a damn good thing to have comeback.

One of the best things about Europe are the markets/butchershops/fishmongers etc.

I really miss this. I grew up in East/Spanish Harlem, and back then, there was a small fish market right across the street from the #6 subway entrance on 103rd Street. My dad used to grab crabs, clams, an occasional lobster and all kinds of fish from there (he grew up in a seaport town - Charleston, SC). La Marqueta, which was along Park Avenue under the Metro-North train tracks, also had fish, produce, and all kinds of goods that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans had back home. My dad used to also hit a local butcher shop. We have a couple of generations that probably don't know what a butcher shop is - everything comes from the supermarket for the most part.

It's unfortunate, but it's easy to see why the butcher shops disappeared. Proper butchering requires a lot of space, it's unpalatable to yuppies, and has many steps. It's a lot easier and cheaper to teach a bunch of cheap laborers to do just one part of the process, over and over, for tens or hundreds of thousands of carcasses per day, instead of being a master 'general practitioner' that carves up the carcass from A to Z. Plus, you don't have to use up expensive urban real estate hanging carcasses on hooks and the like.

If you were slaughtering your own meat, would you really give a fuck when someone said something mildly offensive? When you've got your hands buried in blood and guts, it's hard to care about petty shit like 'feelings.' I'd love to slaughter a cow once and take the meat, just to gain an appreciation for the process.