Junk-Food-Flavored Health Food

As I sit here eating my cheeseburger-flavored Doritos, I wonder, how is it that we can make one junk food taste exactly like another, but we can't make celery taste like bacon?

Chicago Dog

I finally had my first Chicago dog yesterday, and I think I started out right. I waited in line in the freezing cold for about forty-five minutes to have my first taste of these legendary concoctions come from the acclaimed Hot Doug's Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium. The wait was definitely worth it.

For the uninitiated, a Chicago dog consists of a grilled (not broiled), hot dog sharing a bun with a dill pickle spear. This is then topped with onions, tomato slices, mustard, and that phosphorescent, neon green relish that looks like it emits radioactivity. And if you wanted ketchup on your hot dog, get the fuck out of Chicago! There are a few more intricacies into what may and may not go on a Chicago dog, but those are the basics. And let me tell you, it is quite a treat.

In addition to making the Chicago standard, Hot Doug's also has specialty dogs that all look, smell, and sound amazing. I tried the rattlesnake sausage topped with several different cheeses and an interesting sweet sauce. I was expecting the meat to have that over-spiced taste that most game meats have to cover up the gamey-ness, but it tasted just like a poultry or a delicate pork sausage. It was very delicious.

I never really knew there was such a thing as gourmet hot dogs, but Hot Doug's showed me the error of my ways. I'll definitely have to go back some time, preferably when it's not freezing outside, though.

White Castle Memory

Today I had White Castle for lunch. Up to then, I had not had a genuine White Castle slider in about a decade. It was as delicious as I remember, and even more satisfying was that my memory of it actually lived up to reality.