[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

One of the most contested topics in the world of hot dog appreciation is the subject of frankfurter brands, with the general consensus (which I pretty much agree with) being that the majority of national grocery store brands are pretty awful and generally reinforce negative stereotypes of the frankfurter, while small regional brands are a whole different world of delicious bold flavors not dumbed down for mass consumption. In the last few years a third category of premium hot dog makers has started to emerge, offering "gourmet" or healthier hot dog options, Gilbert's of Wisconsin being a good example of one that does both.

David's Kosher is an interesting new brand that seems to be pushing the "healthy"—or at least "gluten free, uncured, natural"—angle, along with the kosher and regional Chicago angle. These all-beef franks basically taste like a fusion between a New York-style Hebrew National and a milder Chicago Vienna Beef dog. I tested them out with a couple different methods and various levels of toppings.

In general it's a decent dog that I would be happy to see in the grocery store. It's a little bit of a bummer that they don't offer a natural casing dog, although whether or not that is possible while remaining kosher is up for debate.

Steamed All-Beef Frank, Plain

As simple as you can get: a steamed frank with nothing on it. It has a similar garlic/paprika flavor and texture to a New York-deli style dog (think Nathan's, Hebrew National) but a bit milder.

All-Beef Frank, Pan-Fried with Mustard

The same dog, shallow-fried in an iron skillet. Frying in some oil really brings out the flavor of these dogs; it's hard to believe it's the same thing I tasted in the last photo. With a squirt of mustard we're really getting into good hot dog territory.

Steamed Frank, Chicago-Style

Since these hot dogs are from Chicago, I thought I'd try them out dressed Chicago-style, with tomato, pickles, onions, sport peppers, and neon green relish—everything but the celery salt and the poppy seed bun. It was a little hard to taste the dog under all that stuff, but it definitely wasn't very far off from what I've had in Chicago.

Pan-Fried Frank, Chicago-Style

Again, a totally different dog when pan-fried (I would assume also terrific grilled). You could really taste the spice of the dog even through all these toppings. Definitely the recommended way to go with these dogs.

Deli-Style, Steamed

I was surprised to actually like a steamed dog more than a fried one when topped with warm kraut and brown mustard. The subtle texture and taste just made sense with the kraut in that Jewish deli/side of pickles and celery soda sort of way.

Pan-Fried All Beef Frank, Pickle and Mustard

Last but not least, pretty much my favorite way to eat a hot dog: cooked in butter and topped with a pickle spear, a handful of raw chopped onions, and yellow mustard on a well-toasted bun. David's Kosher Frank is almost perfect for this style—just the right amount of acidic toppings to complement rather than bury the flavor of the dog.

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints.

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

I was a bit skeptical of Hot Diggity's February special, as I am of many reimagined, fancied-up regional hot dogs. Messing with something like the New Jersey Italian Hot Dog or "NJIHD" —a north Jersey thing, land of the most hard-core hot dog purists in the country—is dangerous. Jersey-style pizza bread made by an organic artisan pizza place in Philadelphia? Fingerling potatoes tossed with fancy olive oil and chives? I could just picture Jim Racciopi of Jimmy Buff's and Hotdoglover marching down Philadelphia's South Street with pitchforks.

Hot Diggity is a year-and-a-half old gourmet hot dog restaurant in Philadelphia with a standard menu of 10 regionally inspired dogs, along with killer monthly specials like Korean chili and "honey dust" topped Corn Dogs, shrimp salad and caviar topped Swedish Dogs, and this month's Jersey-inspired creation.

And guess what? It works.

Aside from a little more cheffy finesse to the ingredients, and a slightly smaller size, the flavors and balance of ingredients are right in line with the real thing. Yes, the slightly blackened pizza bread from nearby Nomad Pizza's wood-fired brick oven isn't quite as soft as the North Jersey original, but it's also delicious. The dogs are all-beef Best Provisions from Newark, deep-fried, the gold standard for authentic NJIHD's. The peppers and onions are slow-cooked rather than deep fried, and the fancy fingerling medallions are crisp and perfectly seasoned. It's also a pretty good deal for something with this much going on at around $6, not far from the standard price in Jersey.

Hot Diggity's NJIHD is a great example of "elevated" regional food done right, with knowledge of proper ingredients, and fancying it up without disrespecting, or being ignorant of, the original. Messing with traditional foods with fanatical followings is always going to piss somebody off. All I can say is, come in and try it before you judge.

If there's any regional dog out there that deserves to be the next big thing, it's this one. It might look like just another gross-out shock value gimmick food, but it's really all about the insane quality and proper execution of a few relatively simple ingredients, and it has a sort of magical jersey comfort food quality to it that still surprises me every time I have one, whether it's from Tommy's in Elizabeth or Hot Diggity in Philadelphia.

Hot Diggity

630 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 (map); 810-233-4000
thehotdiggity.com

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

The other weekend I made it to Hobbs, a coffee shop right outside of Philadelphia, for their one-night only Hot Dog Jamboree. Chef William Randall puts out some really impressive food from a tiny coffeehouse kitchen and recently became hot dog obsessed, whipping up eight different hot dog specials for the event, and even road-tripped into Jersey to source some of the country's best frankfurters.

The menu had a nice balance of classic and gourmet dogs. Even more impressive was the perfectly cooked Karl Ehmer and Kocher's dogs imported from Jersey. Shown above is the natural casing pork and beef Karl Ehmer Seitenwurst, gently pan-fried and served on a soft Liscio's hot dog roll with a side of slaw and yellow mustard. A delicious, snappy mild dog, comparable to Reiker's and up there with my all time favorites in terms of frankfurter brands.

I'm not a huge fan of Chicago Dogs outside of Chicago, and I was definitely wary of the thin-sliced (rather than chopped) raw onion and pickled jalapenos in place of sport peppers, but the ingredient ratios were spot on and it really worked. With my eyes closed I might not have known the difference, except for the awesome natural casing Kocher's frank, slightly milder than the standard all-beef Chicago dogs.

The Dirty South was another nice riff on a classic, plus bacon. Purple jicama slaw is a little fancy for my taste but the chili was fantastic. And the quasi-New-England-style split top hot dog rolls from Liscio's might be the final word in "Philadelphiafied" hot dog buns. You get the nice soft texture of a Philly cheesesteak roll without the "too much bread" problem found at almost every place in Philly that serves dogs on hoagie rolls.

Last but not least was The William, best described as a cross between a New Jersey style Italian dog and breakfast, that involved confit potatoes, mustard butter, tomato gravy and a fried egg. Messy but pretty delicious, and pretty amazing that they are cranking all of this out of a tiny coffeehouse kitchen.

Another dog that looked really good was the Bills BBQ, topped with pulled pork and corn salad. Also on the menu was a duck sausage, which sold out in about half an hour: a Japanese kewpie mayo topped dog, and the broccoli rabe, longhot relish and sharp provolone "Sout'" served on Sarcone's seeded Italian bread.

I'm hoping these guys do this again, and often, so I can come back and try everything I missed.

Hobbs Coffee

1 Park Ave, Swarthmore, PA 19081 (map)
610-541-0122
hobbscoffee.com

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

My status as a hot dog person has started to take on a life of its own these days. Total strangers send me text messages with pictures of obscure hot dog stands in Ohio, and anytime my friends go anywhere, they come back with some sort of regional food, or at least photos and menus.

When some friends recently came back from New Hampshire, I was expecting maybe a can of Moxie, but not a hot dog package complete with several brands of natural casing New England dogs (stowed in an ice packed cooler) along with a pack of top-split buns. Amazing.

As you can see these are pork and beef, natural casing dogs, and really really red with artificial color. We've touched on the subject of red dogs before; the supposed reasons behind it ranging from covering up bad meat during the great depression to marketing gimmicks. These days it's mostly just a regional tradition and preference, and as well as in New England, you'll find dogs dyed various shades of red and pink in the South and northern New York state.

I tried them first cooked slowly in an iron skillet, the closest you can get at home to the flat grill or "griddle" that many hot dog joints use, also useful for toasting the sides of the New England bun. The char brings out the flavor of these dogs, which are pretty tasty, not too mild with a nice porky flavor, great texture and snap from the casing. And terrific with an ice cold Moxie, a regional New England soda that tastes like a cross between Angostura Bitters and Dr Pepper.

Note the "dye ring" effect inside the dogs, with most of the color in the neon casing, the rest slowly soaking into the frankfurter.

And even though they taste really good grilled or griddled, steaming these dogs brings out the colors to psychedelic levels, and also noticably boosts the snap of the casing. Say what you want about boiled dogs, there's something really awesome about the simplicity here.

Add some yellow mustard and it's hard to believe this thing is real. The white-bread texture of a soft, untoasted bun is actually pretty good with the ridiculous snap of the dog, and sort of plays into to the whole unnatural food experience. Although I have to stress that Kayem, and other premium New England brands like Bean's, are much more flavorful than their cheapo, skinless neon red cousins in the south. You can order Kayem Reds, Split Top Buns, Moxie and all sorts of New England treats from Famousfoods.com.

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: My Favorite Hot Dogs of 2012

This year in hot dog eating was a bit different, with more deli counters and meat-packing plants and homemade hot dogs, maybe partially to offset the onslaught of wild-topping gourmet dogs, a few of which I really love and you'll see represented here, while others just seem like sometimes interesting, sometimes awful exercises in ridiculousness.

The more I find local butcher shops making delicious old-school frankfurters—in supposedly "hot dog ignorant" regions, around Maryland and in Philadelphia—the more baffled I am that restaurants and hot dog stands aren't using them. Maybe it's the small scale production that keeps the quality high. Either way, if you're willing to travel a bit, most of these places offer their amazing dogs for as much as you would pay for cheapo national brands in the supermarket, usually along with all sorts of cured meats and regional specialties you've never even heard of.

Check out all of my favorite dogs in the slideshow!

VIEW SLIDESHOW: 10 Christmas-Themed Hot Dogs

Christmas is one holiday that hasn't always inspired much hot dog creativity. Stuffing and gravy-topped Thanksgiving dogs have been floating around for a few years now, and my bet is that by the time Christmas rolls around, most professional doggers are ready for a few days on the couch with some whiskey and no tube meat in sight.

But this year, some of the nation's top hot dog chefs have come up with some wild and delicious yuletide-themed concoctions.

We've got a lot of reindeer dogs going on, with Misconduct Tavern in Philly grinding venison for housemade reindeer dogs and Hot Diggity, also in Philly, serving a reindeer dog topped with rum-butter roasted pears. Then we have encased meat king Doug Sohn at Hot Doug's in Chicago running crazy specials like a cognac, lamb and pork sausage topped with mint mustard cream and double creme brie...

Pair any of these hot dogs with lots of eggnog and multiple viewings of A Christmas Story or Trading Places and you're all set.

See all 10 Christmas-themed hot dogs in the slideshow >>

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Hot Dog Gift Guide 2012

It's that time of year again—the time to find an amazing gift for the crazy hot dog maniac in your life. There's plenty of amazing new hot dog stuff this year (see the hot dog guides from 2011 and from 2010), including a brand new book from hot dog historian Bruce Kraig, hot dog cooking gadgets, t-shirts, and a whole bunch of delicious mail-order sauces..

If you'll be in our near New Jersey, the ultimate gift, at least in my opinion, would be a ticket to next September's 10th annual New Jersey Hot Dog Tour, organized by John Fox (a.k.a. hotdoglover here) and Erwin Benz. Interested folks can learn more about the tour by reserving tickets over at Hot Dog Nation.

See all the gift ideas in the slideshow >>

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

A few months ago, I took a hot dog tour of West Virginia (the northern part of the state at least) and one of my main goals was finally trying the infamous Yann's. Known as the "hot dog nazi", Russell Yann serves up hot dogs from a tiny eight-seat shack with no hours and no sign, and a barebones menu of hot dogs, pepperoni rolls and "white" or "brown" bottles of milk.

Unlike the rest of the state, the focus is on the spicy "sauce". Don't even think about calling it "chili" or asking for slaw, or god forbid, ketchup. I'm pretty sure the slaw purists over at the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog consider Yann's to be part of Pennsylvania or Maryland (although they did enjoy the chili), but locals who grew up with the stuff swear by it like nothing I've ever seen.

Unfortunately when I got there the place was closed - apparently a pretty common problem, but West Virginia culinary ambassador and Yann's devotee Joel H Brown was kind enough to send me a big box of Yann's dogs, fully dressed and frozen, along with very specific re-heating instructions (and a few pepperoni rolls).

It's definitely a bummer to miss the whole "hot-dog-nazi" experience, but I also looked at it as a good experiment to see if this sort of thing still stood out as exceptional without the eccentric atmosphere and experience in person.

Yann's are small dogs, two or three bites at the most, with just a smear of sauce and a minimal bit of yellow mustard and onion almost underneath the dog. Something like 90 cents a piece, these are the types of dogs you eat by the dozen. To-go orders are wrapped in pairs with wax paper, allowing the flavors to meld, which is how mine arrived in the mail. I ate the first two in about 30 seconds. These things are for real.

The dogs are steamed Sugardale brand (nothing to write home about) in a cheap white bun. But the sauce is where it's at - really really hot, just at the perfect threshold before "too much" - at least for me. Finely ground, smooth and thick, more of a condiment than a chili and really different than anything else I've had in West Virginia.

There's even a slight Greek flavor, either cinnamon and allspice, so it's not just all heat. Other rumored secret ingredients include lard and cracker meal. Some of the really out-there regional hot dog sauces (see some here) are more fascinating than delicious, but Yann's is one of the best I've ever had. It's blazingly hot, but you keep going back the way you might with great Sichuan food or Nashville hot chicken.

I also dropped a couple off at Hot Diggity, and you can watch their review of Yann's dogs in the video below. (They also have other videos on serious hot dog cooking techniques and not-so-serious reviews of things like Walmart brand hot dog flavored potato chips.)

Even without being there at the formica counter, being yelled at for ordering wrong, I get it. There's no logical reason why this smashed-up cheap dog with meat sauce is any better than a zillion others like it across the country, but there's something magical going on here that you just can't put your finger on. If I ever get back to that part of the country, you can bet Yann's will be my first stop.

Yann's Hot Dog Stand

300 Washington Street, Fairmont, WV; (map)
(304) 366-8660

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: 13 Thanksgiving-Themed Hot Dogs in America

My favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the leftovers sandwich, with bonus points for ingredients sourced from different families. It's also a sandwich gimmick I never seem to get sick of when it's on menus, and now practically a requirement for gourmet hot dog joints to offer this time of year.

Wurst Bar's Thanksgiving Brat. [Photograph: Jesse Kranyak]

The hot dog purist in me wants to hate this sort of thing, and really how many carb-on-carb stomach bombs topped with stuffing and mashed potatoes can you eat, but I'm always surprised by how inventive and truly tasty these things are every year. This year's crop of Thanksgiving-inspired dogs was created with even more finesse and balance. Sure, some of them are pushing the "hot dog" definition, they still look so damn good.

Last year we had some really great Thanksgiving Dogs from places like Senate and Hot Diggity in Philly, but this year we've got all new dogs, including three different places that are making the dogs and sausages in-house just for this holiday special.

Rumor has it that some of these places are already messing around with reindeer, venison, and fruitcake in preparation for Christmas, so get ready for that in a few weeks.

Check out all 13 wacky Thanksgiving-themed dogs in the slideshow >>

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Hot Dog Lovers: Get Yourself to Net Cost Market

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

Back in August, I searched Philadelphia for high-quality, traditional natural casing hot dogs. Not an easy task in a city that's been dubbed a "bland hot dog market."

But I found the hot dog holy grail at Net Cost, an Eastern European superstore in northeast Philly (with several outlets in Brooklyn) that has more natural casing hot dog brands than I've ever seen in one place, not to mention a selection of cured and smoked meats that rivals anything I've ever seen in my life.

Net Cost's deli counter also offers a variety of hot dogs. We tried a bunch and bought some franks to cook at home. The selection is about a thousand times better than anything you can find in a regular supermarket. Until now Wegman's was my "hot dog stock-up location" of choice (for Zwiegle's, Sahlen's, and Thumann brand dogs) but Net Cost is definitely my new spot. Take a look at all of the unique, delicious hot dog offerings in the slideshow.

Net Cost Market

11701 Bustleton Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19116 (map); 267-672-2500
netcostmarket.com

2339 65th Street Brooklyn, NY 11204 (map) ; 718-627-7449
Also, several other locations across Brooklyn and Staten Island
netcostmarket.com

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: What's the Best Rochester Beef Hot Sauce for Hot Dogs?

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

I've tasted and written about almost every different Greek-rooted hot dog sauce in the country here on Hot Dog of the Week from Cincinnati to Detroit, New York to Alabama. But one glaring omission from my regional meat sauce knowledge was Rochester Beef Hot Sauce, an integral ingredient of Rochester's famous Garbage Plate, and also an essential topping for Rochester's local Zweigle's Dogs, split and flat-grilled, covered in sauce and known as Texas Hots or simply Hots.

Jim at Hot Top Foods, who's bringing Rochester Beef Hot Sauce to a larger audience with his shelf-stable Rochester Plate Sauce (don't call it a Garbage Plate unless you want trouble from Nick Tahou Hots, the originator and trademark holder of the term) sent me a plethora of different Rochester sauces to compare, and I have to say I was pretty blown away by how different they are from anything else I've had.

Sure, there's the familiar Greek hot sauce spices (allspice and clove) in a couple of these - none whatsoever in a few of them too - but definitely in the background. Many are spiked with worcestershire, tamarind and vinegar, and boosted with loads of lard or even butter, ensuring that pools of grease run off of the sauce, mix with the mustard, and soak into the bun.

These are also really different from each other, but all of them really powerful - not so much spicy-hot but just intense, something you would want to eat a bowl of on it's own about as much as you would want to drink a glass of mustard.

When you taste it on the dogs, it all makes sense. The flavor packed, greasy sauce works great with griddle-charred, slightly sweet, bright flavor of the Zweigle's dogs - the sum of the parts making this wildly different than your average chili dog.

Check out the slideshow to see which were our favorites, all of them are available to order online at platesauce.com and nystyledeli.com

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

I don't know if it's possible to convey how good a New Jersey Italian Hot Dog is with words and pictures. It tends to get lumped in with the world of shock value fat-on-fat concoctions like grilled-cheese-donut burgers, New Brunswick fat cats and deep-fried bacon-wrapped-bacon. But from the right place, a real New Jersey Italian Hot Dog is a seriously mind-blowing totally unique regional sandwich that tastes like nothing you've ever had before, and is made with a lot more care than you might expect.

I ended up at Tommy's on a recommendation from Jersey Hot Dog historian John Fox, a.k.a. hotdoglover here on Serious Eats. It's a walkup window in busy Elizabeth, New Jersey; a fascinating place with a cool mix of Italian sausage shops, Latin American food and Portuguese restaurants.

There is nowhere to sit, and unlike Jerry's—another hot dog place two doors down the block—not even a ledge to rest your elbow and your drink as you devour your Italian Hot Dog. I ate mine on the hood of the car.

Tommy's Italian Hot Dog starts out with fresh pizza bread, a unique product only found in North Jersey that looks like a giant bread donut about the size of a hubcap, cut into halves or quarters before being stuffed with a deep-fried dog (or two, or three). Tommy's bread was some of the best I've had, fresh and similar to the less crusty styles of Philly hoagie bread. Next comes the Best Provisions brand skinless all-beef frank, scored with a knife either for texture or to prevent blowout.

On top of that is a pile of soft onions and peppers that seem to have been cooked slowly in lots of oil. Then, the potatoes. At some places they are more like fries, thick cut medallions fried to a crisp, but Tommy's are of the thin-cut, soft non-crisp variety. I didnt't think I would like them much but WOW, they were great, sort of like the most carefully made diner home fries you've ever had.

The whole thing is much less greasy than you think. If a cheesesteak has a heartburn factor of nine, the Italian Hot Dog is only around a four.

If you like crazy food, hot dogs, or interesting regional stuff, the New Jersey Italian Hot Dog is not one to miss, and Tommy's is a great place to try it.

Tommy's Italian Sausage

900 2nd Avenue, Elizabeth, NJ 07201; (map)
908-351-9831

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Where to Find the Best European-Style Frankfurters in Philadelphia

Even though my hometown of Philadelphia is going through a serious hot dog renaissance, mostly of the gourmet kind, for years we were considered sort of a ho-hum hot dog town, outside of the semi-obscure legacy of Fish Cake Combos and Pepper Hash.

Every once in a while I would hear (or read) about these old German sausage shops off in the suburbs, but what exactly they made, and if they were any good, that was always vague.

Recently while preparing for an eight-course hot dog tasting at Audrey Claire's Cook in Philadelphia (that I'm working on with Keith Garabedian of Hot Diggity), I finally had an opportunity to check these places out, and while there were a couple of disappointments, overall I was amazed at the the amount of really good, traditional German and Polish natural casing dogs you can find if you venture to the outskirts of our supposedly non-hot-dog loving city.

Some of these are seriously up there with the best dogs in the country. This is why you should never, ever buy a pack of tasteless, mushy grocery store hot dogs in Philadelphia ever again.

Philadelphia: Eat These Frankfurters

Illg's Meats
Traditional German Wiener

Halteman Family Foods
Knockwurst

Czerw's Kielbasy
Old World Polish Hot Dogs

Krakus Market
Parowki Hot Dogs

Net Cost Market
The Hot Dog Holy Grail
Veal Frankfurter
Bobak's Garlic Wiener
Long Frankfurter

Rieker's Prime Meats
Wursts and Wieners
Thuringer
German Wiener
White Veal Wieners
100% Veal Wieners

VIEW SLIDESHOW: 15 of the Craziest Hot Dog Toppings Entered in Philadelphia Contest

This year for National Hot Dog Month, Philadelphia's South Street / Headhouse Square district held its very first annual week-long Dog Days Of Summer celebration, which included a hot dog topping contest where 15 contestants, chosen from a pool of more than 30, presented their wild creations. A Shakshuka Dog, an Elvis Dog, an Icelandic-inspired one with fried onions, and many more.

The Sabrett's dogs and Liscio's rolls were pouring out of the kitchen of Hot Diggity then topped on a prep table set up next to the judges.

Each dog was judged on the below parameters by a panel of Philadelphia hot dog aficionados including O.G. Philly hot dog guru Holly Moore, South Philly Taproom / Scott Dogs chef Scott Schroeder, Hot Diggity chef-owwner Keith Garebedian (running inside between tastings to throw more dogs on the grill for the 40-deep line also inside the restaurant, possibly the busiest Diggity's ever been) and yours truly, SE hot dog columnist Hawk Krall.

• Taste (50 points)
• Creativity (30 points)
• Appearance (10 points)
• Technique (10 points)

Overall the dogs were much better than we expected, half of which I'd happily order from Hot Diggity's menu (the first place winner goes on as a special for the month of August). There were some wild cards like the Ambrosia Salad dog, beautiful but really strange, and a few that sounded crazy but actually worked, like the harissa-braised-lentil-chili winner that surprised all of us.

The Winners

First Place: The Marrakech by Jason Bartlett. Ham hock and harissa braised lentil chili, red cabbage and crispy onion rings.

Second Place: Kimchi dog by Hahri Shin. Young radish Kimchi and paper thin cucumber pickles.

Third Place: Un Chien Andalou by Nancy Lowell. Hot dog topped with Andalusian Gazpacho Salad.

See all 15 entries in the Hot Dog Toppings Contest >>

[Artwork: Hawk Krall]

We first covered Michigans, one of the most fascinating of the "regionally incorrect meat sauce dogs," a couple of years ago when I trekked up to Plattsburgh, New York, on a pilgrimage to the legendary Clare & Carl's only to find it closed and ended up at Gus's, also a fine example of Plattsburgh's signature dog.

I was surprised to find that Michigans aren't the obscure forgotten dog I thought they were. Literally from the Canadian border (and even into Canada, although they are different) all the way down to Lake Placid, you can grab a "Michigan"—even a vegetarian version—from almost any roadside stand, diner, or gas station.

[Photographs: Kelly Hofschneider]

At first glance the Michigan might look like any other chili dog, but the best spots use these crazy top-loaded buns, sort of like New England style but sturdier, only available in the North Country and nobody seems to know who makes them. Legend has it they let the buns sit for a day uncut, until they are semi-stale, before slicing and steaming to create the perfect soft-but-sturdy vehicle for the dog, ideally a Glazier brand neon red natural casing frank.

Although the name "Michigan" supposedly has roots in a sauce recipe that traveled from Detroit to Plattsburgh in the early 1920s, Michigan sauce bears little resemblance to Detroit Coney sauce, with no offal and barely any Greek flavor, although the texture is similar to Flint sauce. It's chunkier and thicker than most hot dog sauces, made with tomato (sometimes even ketchup) and secret ingredients such as cabbage, vinegar, or brown sugar.

Cheese or beans are not allowed, mustard should be of the yellow variety, and onions are ordered "with" or "buried" under the sauce. Having tried a few of these, I can tell you that it's not just the name, the Michigan is really a special, unique regional dog, preserved for years in this semi-secluded part of the country.

Just in time for National Hot Dog Month (July!), Adirondack Life Magazine has published what might be the most comprehensive article about the mysterious Michigan to date, including a long list of bona-fide Michigan spots that serve the real deal, far beyond the "big three" of Clare & Carl's, Gus's and McSweeneys, the only ones I knew about before going up there. Check out the article at adirondacklife.com where you can also grab a t-shirt of the above artwork.

About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.