Hot Doggy Dog

Celebrating the hot history of a global fast-food favorite!

One of the most popular fast foods, after hamburgers and pizzas has to be the highly underrated hot dog and, in honor of International Hot Dog, which was celebrated on Friday, July 17, we decided to investigate the history of this sausage-ina-bun that has been around for hundreds of years.

Historians believe that the origin of the wiener sausage used in hot dogs can be traced all the way back to the era of the notorious Roman emperor Nero.

In Roman times it was customary to starve pigs for one week before the slaughter. Nero’s cook Gaius was watching over his kitchen when he realized that one pig had been brought out fully roasted, but somehow not cleaned. He stuck a knife into the belly to see if the roast was edible and out popped the intestines: empty because of the starvation diet, and puffed from the heat. According to legend, Gaius got the idea to stuffthe intestines with ground game meats mixed with spices and wheat and... behold... the sausage link was created.