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In today's N&O on the front page of the Scene section, there is a nice article that explains our red hot tradition. I would link it, but don't know how. Pretty interesting. Also has a great eastern NC chili recipie.
We moved to Raleigh when I was a kid. The red hot dogs were one of the first things I noticed! In fact, it was a curiosity to me that the hot dogs were not only red but served in really, really steamed buns that were almost soggy. I quickly came to love the soggy bun but it took some time to get used to the fact that the hot dog was bright red.
I ate a tractor trailer load of red Jesse Jones hot dogs boiled in a sauce pan growing up. My mon steamed the buns, and made a great chili to boot Very nice article!
Another great place is Shorty's in downtown Wake Forest. It's been there FOREVER and is very quaint - has coke in bottles too! It's been in Southern Living, etc. Not totally clean, but fun
Shorty's had a 92.5 rating from the Wake County health department in March 2009.
It amazes me, because I've never, ever, in my entire life, seen such a filthy restaurant. I felt so guilty about having my family eat there once. It's been there forever, and it seems to have last been cleaned in about 1957.
(Bright red food dye? Blecch. I'm a Zweigle's white hot fan.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by purdypearls
Another great place is Shorty's in downtown Wake Forest. It's been there FOREVER and is very quaint - has coke in bottles too! It's been in Southern Living, etc. Not totally clean, but fun
Why am I not the least bit surprised that you would not like a local, southern tradition. Do you actually like anything southern? Those hot dogs you speak of are disgusting to me. And I have tried them. They were awful.
^So the Yanks will be disgusted by it, not like the way we live, and leave! j/k. The red dye is just a tradition so they say. I say it's to cover up the actual cover of the disgusting ingredients. I took a tour of the Brightleaf plant in Smithfield years ago. It's actually pretty gross how these dogs are made so if you enjoy red dogs stop reading now.
After the meat is processed (the good stuff; bacon, pork chops, ribs, etc.) the rest of the animal is left scattered about on the floor. A small skid-steer ("Bobcat") front-end loader tractor scrapes the entire floor with the bucket and pours everything into a giant vat or mixing bowl thing. There is this huge mixer that constantly stirs everything into a paste. The red dye is injected into this paste and the paste is then poured into the skin forming the hot dog us southerners love to eat.
Yes, it's disgusting how they're made but I still eat them. As for flavor, I've never noticed any difference in flavor between any hot dog (that's what chili is for) except for one; a Hebrew National which is the best IMO and is even kosher.
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