Food and Culture
Food and culture as Massimo Montanari points out are reflectance upon each other like culture and art. Being that I am a born and raised American, a very large part of my culture is the hot dog. Hot dogs are traditional in my house because my father has hot dogs for lunch consistently for years and even before my birth. He was my first introduction to the popular barbeque food, until one day he gave me one, I originally liked them cold and plain. Unlike him who typically warms them and tops it with mustard, using cheese and other toppings on different days to add variety. His reasoning behind eating these for lunch is on work days their fast to cook and tie him over till the end of the day. Yet, I never knew how large of piece of nationality my dad shared with me.
The hot dog's origins can be traced back to Germany and Poland, two countries very famous for sausage items. The hot dog's first appearance on American soil was on coney island in the 1870's by a polish immigrant, yet it was the a man named Nathan Handwerker who gave the item it's popularity opening a stand called Nathan's. To this day the brand has remained a large seller of the American tradition, even after 95 years of business. There are many ways to eat hot dogs, a favorite in my home city of Cincinnati is the cheese coney, chili made with cinnamon and chocolate placed on a dog than covered in cheese. However, there's also Chicago style, Texas style, it all depends on where you are and what's your preference the possibilities are endless!
To put it simply, tradition and culture is all about when and where you grew up. The hot dogs origins began in Europe, but became a large part of American culture due to immigration. My enlightenment to this historical item was all because I grew up in a house with hot dogs always being in the fridge and it was something me and my dad shared both hot dogs as well as many other foods. It's because of him I was introduced to this whole new part of culture and its because of him I shall continue to indulge myself within it.
The hot dog's origins can be traced back to Germany and Poland, two countries very famous for sausage items. The hot dog's first appearance on American soil was on coney island in the 1870's by a polish immigrant, yet it was the a man named Nathan Handwerker who gave the item it's popularity opening a stand called Nathan's. To this day the brand has remained a large seller of the American tradition, even after 95 years of business. There are many ways to eat hot dogs, a favorite in my home city of Cincinnati is the cheese coney, chili made with cinnamon and chocolate placed on a dog than covered in cheese. However, there's also Chicago style, Texas style, it all depends on where you are and what's your preference the possibilities are endless!
To put it simply, tradition and culture is all about when and where you grew up. The hot dogs origins began in Europe, but became a large part of American culture due to immigration. My enlightenment to this historical item was all because I grew up in a house with hot dogs always being in the fridge and it was something me and my dad shared both hot dogs as well as many other foods. It's because of him I was introduced to this whole new part of culture and its because of him I shall continue to indulge myself within it.