# I ate a hot dog with ketchup yesterday **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565 "2016-06-05T12:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/41 "2016-06-05T22:34:00Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I suggest **Ketchup is the new Mustard**. **Red is the new [del]Yellow[/del] Brown** > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > **Never** mustard. You forgot the word **not** ; anything else is optional. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/42 "2016-06-05T23:11:20Z")
Eh, if the only mustard available is plain American yellow, you’re not missing much by leaving it off. Now, Cleveland ballpark mustard, that stuff is God’s gift to sausages. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/43 "2016-06-05T23:45:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You’ve never had cheese fries? (There’s a restaurant here in Pittsburgh that makes fries with cheddar, provolone and bacon bits. It’s so freaking bad for you, but so good) I have. They’re abysmal. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/44 "2016-06-05T23:50:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Now, Cleveland ballpark mustard, that stuff is God’s gift to sausages. YES!!! 🙂 But I still prefer ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/45 "2016-06-06T01:19:50Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Chicagoan reporting in, and I am here to state that the entire “no ketchup on hot dogs” taboo is a running joke that got out of hand. > > Growing up, I ate at dozens of Chicago hot dog stands, and had ordered hot dogs with just ketchup and mustard, and nobody batted an eye. It wasn’t until years later, sometime in the late eighties I think, that this culinary quirk sprang into being. > > The now defunct Harry’s Hot Dogs on Franklin and Randolph was a Chicago institution for over fifty years, and a hot dog there with everything automatically included ketchup. If you didn’t want ketchup, you had to tell them to leave it off. They weren’t the only place in town doing that. > > If you want ketchup, ask for it. Yes! That’s the one place where ketchup was standard on a hot dog. Freaked me right out the first time, as it’s not usual to expect ketchup on a hot dog here. The only other places I’ve seen put ketchup as default are Home Depots, and even some of them have gotten with the program and not it’s a special request. The quirk is certainly not late 80s. I mean, I was born in the mid-70s, and ketchup was always by special request here in my neck of the woods as long as I remember hot dogs. “Everything on it” varies by hot dog stand, but always includes mustard, onions, and relish. My hot dog stand also included a pickle spear. No tomatoes. This “buried under salad” thing is exaggerated. There’s only a couple stands I know (like Byron’s) that truly do a buried under a mound of veggies and greens dog. In my neck of the woods, there was also JR’s, which would put fresh cucumber slices on it, too, but it’s not typical. The pickle spear can be removed and eaten separately (which is how I do it), so the only topping that’s really extraneous on a “full-dressed” Chicago dog as defined by Vienna beef is the tomatoes. As for asking for ketchup, it depends. There are places like the highly praised Gene & Jude’s (or Gene’s and Jude’s) where they simply don’t have ketchup on the premises. But that’s the only extreme example I can think of. And they do the simple Chicago dog, with just ketchup, mustard, and relish. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/46 "2016-06-06T01:27:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And they do the simple Chicago dog, with just ketchup, mustard, and relish. The hell did I just write? I mean **onions** , mustard, and relish. Jimmy’s (in Chicago proper, and another one of the hot dog kings) is the same, but they also provide you with a pickle spear. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/47 "2016-06-06T01:32:03Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Peanut butter on hot dogs is the way to go. 🙂 This weirdly makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/48 "2016-06-06T01:35:38Z")
Baked beans on mine, but I’ll settle for Gulden’s Spicy Brown in a pinch. Oh, and potato buns. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/49 "2016-06-06T01:36:42Z")
Fools! Everyone knows you save your ketchup for a well-done steak! \ Some love for beef/kosher hot dogs up-thread. I have to say, for decades I’ve eaten only beef hot-dogs when given the choice. Then one day I messed up and bought regular hot-dogs. Surprise! The indigestion I inevitably suffered after a dog never appeared! Since then, only the pork snout variety for me. . . with ketchup. Sometimes when I’m feeling crazy, I’ll smear a LITTLE yellow mustard on it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/50 "2016-06-06T01:39:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The best hot dogs in the world, IMHO, are Chicago-style, made with Vienna franks. Kosher dogs that snap when you bite them waaaay outclass your average supermarket variety. :o FTR, Vienna franks are not kosher. The other day I was not feeling well, so I tossed my daughter a twenty and she went off to Johnny Dog, up the block. Red Hot Chicago’s, also not kosher, but a good dog. She came back with one for me that was only relish and ketchup because that’s how she likes them. And since they charge a fine for ketchup, I obviously gave her too much money. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/51 "2016-06-06T01:41:15Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > **Red is the new [del]Yellow[/del] Brown** That works, too. For the record, I’m a M+K, or plane-no-condiments, guy. I’ll do either. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/52 "2016-06-06T01:45:24Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This weirdly makes sense to me. Having just tried a peanut butter dog, they aren’t bad but they taste weird. Not bad, just strange. I guess it is something you have to eat many times before you start to really like it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/53 "2016-06-06T01:48:55Z")
Peanut butter is also good with salami. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/54 "2016-06-06T02:21:29Z")
Peanut butter is excellent with salami. Better than with bologna, which is how I ate it as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/55 "2016-06-06T02:31:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The bit I can’t understand: The region of the world where ketchup is considered such an abomination is also the same region where they habitually bury their dogs under so much salad that you can’t even find the meat. I mean, I could understand a hot dog purist, who liked them plain, or with only one or two specific condiments. But if you’re dumping the entire garden on it, what difference does one more topping make? Exactly. According to Wikipedia “The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers and a dash of celery salt” Really, after 7 condiments, 5 of which are vegetables, declaring ketchup as beyond the pale is ridiculous. Your food, your condiments. I myself never put ketchup on my hot dogs (I’m more of a mayo, mustard, and matchstick fries), but if you like it, splurge on. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/56 "2016-06-06T03:30:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The hell did I just write? I mean **onions** , mustard, and relish. Jimmy’s (in Chicago proper, and another one of the hot dog kings) is the same, but they also provide you with a pickle spear. Actually, never mind. They don’t. For some reason, I thought they did, but they do the other standard traditional Chicago dog, onions, relish, and mustard. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/57 "2016-06-06T03:37:05Z")
The Seattle Dog: cream cheese (that’s right, you heard me!), grilled onion, jalapeño peppers and Rooster (Sriracha) Sauce. Don’t judge me! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/58 "2016-06-06T03:46:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The bit I can’t understand: The region of the world where ketchup is considered such an abomination is also the same region where they habitually bury their dogs under so much salad that you can’t even find the meat. I mean, I could understand a hot dog purist, who liked them plain, or with only one or two specific condiments. But if you’re dumping the entire garden on it, what difference does one more topping make? Ketchup is just that much stronger than everything else. I suspect it’s because it has so many of the flavors: salty, sweet, sour, and umami. Only bitter really isn’t there. It’s hard to use the right (small) amount of ketchup while also making sure it’s evenly spread. That said, I think putting kraut on a dog is also dumb, for the same reason. That stuff overpowers everything. And yet it’s really just sour. Then again, I don’t tend to like sour without enough sweet to balance it out. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/59 "2016-06-06T05:37:01Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Really, after 7 condiments, 5 of which are vegetables, declaring ketchup as beyond the pale is ridiculous. Your food, your condiments. The argument against ketchup isn’t that it’s a vegetable but that it’s largely sugar. That’s why kids put it on everything; because it makes stuff sweeter. The sweetness overpowers the other flavors. Besides, the relish already serves a sweet & vinegar flavor better than ketchup could plus gives some additional texture. This shouldn’t be mistaken for me caring about what you put on your hot dog, of course. Go wild with the ketchup if that’s what steams your buns. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565/60 "2016-06-06T06:20:29Z")
I’ve always preferred ketchup on my hot dogs, along all the rest of the condiments you can throw at them. Hot dogs are so salty that the sweetness of the ketchup helps tone down the saltiness enough to render them edible. Otherwise, they’re just too salty to be palatable for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ate-a-hot-dog-with-ketchup-yesterday/756565.md?page=4)