“Never Put Ketchup on a Hotdog”
Bob Schwartz on “Dragging It Through The Garden”
On Tuesday we had a wonderful speaker, Bob Schwartz who shared a love of Hot Dogs (hold the ketchup please) as a long-time VP of Vienna® Beef.
Vienna® Beef was founded in 1893 by Emil Reichel and Samuel Ladany, Austrian-Hungarian immigrants who introduced the family frankfurter recipe at the legendary Columbian Expo/World’s Fair. The hot dog was a hit and Vienna® Beef was born! 125 years later they are still making sausages the old-fashioned way, with premium domestic beef and their original recipe, to the highest quality standards and hickory-smoked flavor.
He is also an author of a book called “Never Put Ketchup on a Hotdog.” Not sure if that is because Dirty Harry said it, or due to his Cleveland background, but either way he knows a good dog and their hotdog stands!
Take some time to listen to him on our Rotary Facebook live meeting video. Below are excerpts from the many interviews Bob and his Hot Dog legacy are part of.
From goodreads.com: “Travel through Chicago's neighborhoods and suburban communities both past and present with an eye on the passion and the people behind Chicago hot dog stands. With a preface by Joe Mantegna, star of stage, screen and television and a a foreword by Chicago's famed news anchor, Bob Sirott, the book focuses on how these hot dog stands can get into your soul.
The first edition of the book proved not only to be a fun read, but kind of a year book of sorts that many folks have taken to their favorite stands for an autograph with the hope of making their own hot dog stand memories. In keeping with that, our Collector's Edition perpetuates that approach by including a Chicago-style hot dog stand directory with nearly 200 Chicago-area listings and over 100 more out of town Chicago hot dog ambassadors listed by state.
The second edition also features neighborhood, suburban and national maps as well as many additional stories, pictures, and updates. With more than three-quarters of a century of hot dog love and lore to build on, the book also takes a glimpse at what's hot now and expected in the near future.
Dragging It Through The Garden is the look and taste of the Chicago-style hot dog with yellow mustard, white chopped onions, green relish, red tomato slices, a pickle spear, a couple of sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt, and you're ready to go. Nowhere on that list will you find ketchup, and as Chicago White Sox Chairman, Jerry Reinsdorf, said on a recent television show called The Club - Thou shalt not put ketchup on a hot dog. So, have one with everything, sit back, and enjoy the book.
From the Levy Organization round up of Celebrating National Hot Dog Month, Part 4:
By way of Cleveland, Bob moved to Chicago in 1972 to work for Vienna Beef, jump-starting his passion for the Chicago dog.
“Cleveland was a great deli town…When I came to work for Vienna, I knew that they were a company that made corned beef and pastrami and salami, because that’s what they sold to a lot of the delis,” Bob said, “We didn’t have hot dog stands.”
Once his career with Vienna Beef started taking off, Bob’s knowledge and fascination with the Chicago dog stands skyrocketed. To this day, Bob can confidently recite the street names on which early Vienna Beef factories and hot dog stands were located, and which elements of the classic hot dog have evolved over time.
“The first hot dog stands really appeared during the Depression…They created the Depression dog, which is a way you get all your food groups for a nickel. You put on mustard, a little relish, chopped onions, and cucumber,” Bob recalled, “That was their version of dragging it through the garden.”
As a former Clevelander myself – I can say mustard is my condiment of choice. As a vegetarian – I miss hot dogs the most! My favorite? New York style – kraut and mustard! What is your favorite dog and stand? Please post on our Facebook and share!
From the Daily Herald 2012
Bob Schwartz gets up every morning and talks to people about hot dogs.
The senior vice president of Vienna Beef and the author of "Never Put Ketchup on a Hot Dog," Schwartz is more than professionally involved -- he is a genuine Chicago dog fan.
"The Chicago hot dog stand is such an important part of not only our culture, but our community," Schwartz said. "It's part of a lifestyle in Chicago."
Schwartz said his appreciation of the humble hot dog grew after he left his native Ohio. Now with more than a third of a century of hot dog sales under his belt, he can speak with authority about well-known hot dog stands in the Chicago area and the people who operated them.
"It's amazing how many inspiring stories you get from these people," he said. "The stories in the book are more about the people behind the hot dog stand."
The word "stand" is appropriate, he said. Many of the places were so small that's literally what you had to do. The all-beef frankfurter that is center of the Chicago hot dog got its start during the 1893 World Columbian Exposition when two Austrian immigrants came over to sell them to fairgoers. They stayed to open a store and then the Vienna Beef factory, now located on Damen Avenue. Schwartz said the popularity of Chicago hot dog likely goes back to the Great Depression when a hot dog on a bun was a meal in itself that included mustard, relish, onion and cucumber.
Officially, today's dragged-through-the-garden style Chicago hot dog is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun dressed with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, a couple sport peppers and dash of celery salt. No ketchup!
"The hot dog wants to be enjoyed and savored," Schwartz explained. "Ketchup is very sweet and acidic and it would take over the other condiments and the hot dog itself."
Schwartz believes that the friendliness of the local hot dog stand is as much of the attraction as the dog itself. "They want to know about their favorite places," he said of people who come to his presentations. "They want to tell their own stories."
Superdawg, Fluky's and Jimmy's Red Hots are a few of the names of well-known stands, which Schwartz identifies by geographic area in his book. The
Western Suburbs has Portillo's, which has grown to much more than a hot dog stand, he said. Schwartz won't name any favorite hot dog joint of his own -- saying he has more than one -- but he does confess to a slight deviation in how he dresses his Chicago dog.
"I kind of leave the relish off my own dog. I relish the dog, but not the relish," he said.
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