By Emily Smith
(CNN) — Hot diggity dog! July is National Hot Dog Month.
During hot dog season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), 818 hotdogs are eaten every second. And on the Fourth of July, Americans devour approximately 150 million hot dogs; that’s enough to stretch from coast to coast five times.
Depending on where you are, hot dogs can look and taste completely different. From slaw dogs in the South to Chicago dogs in the Second City to Detroit’s Coney dogs, cities take their hot dogs very seriously.
One of the first mentions of cooking sausages can be found in Homer’s Odyssey: “As when a man besides a great fire has filled a sausage with fat and blood and turns it this way and that and is very eager to get it quickly roasted.”
Hot dogs have come a long way since Homer’s days. These days you’ll find bacon-wrapped, fried hot dogs and even chicken, turkey and veggie dogs.
As for toppings, a hot dog loves them all. Whether you stick to simple ketchup and mustard, add chili or sauerkraut, hot dogs do not discriminate. So, this month, take some time to experiment with a childhood classic that’s all grown up.
™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
