Replies: 5
| visibility 407
|
Oculus Spirit [78823]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 26419
Joined: 12/6/98
|
An ode to Southern slaw dogs
Mar 22, 2019, 11:14 AM
|
|
How I learned to love the smell of cabbage in the morning
BY NNEKA M. OKONA - MARCH 19, 2019
One morning a few years back, while waiting on a flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, I had to do something to address the rumbling in my stomach. It was barely 10 a.m., and my gate offered only two immediate options: Chick-fil-A and the Varsity, both quintessential Georgia fast-food institutions.
I chose the latter. I was craving a slaw dog, and I scarfed down two—not the least bit ashamed of my choice in breakfast.
Slaw dogs first popped up in West Virginia in the early 1920s and became popular in that region during the Great Depression, in the years when hot dogs and cabbage were affordable for most struggling families. “Basically, nobody had any money, and in thinking of what to eat, it had to be something cheap and memorable,” says Christopher Scott Jones, a contributor to the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog.
I grew up in Atlanta, with a Southern mother who ate slaw dogs frequently while I frowned. It took a while for me to appreciate the joy of a boiled hot dog in a warmed bun, topped with biting yellow mustard that’s the perfect foil to sweet, tangy, creamy coleslaw.
A traditional West Virginia slaw dog is topped not just with slaw and yellow mustard but also with meaty chili and diced sweet onions. That’s the way they’re served at Macon’s Nu-Way Weiners, which has been around since 1916 (even longer than the slaw dog itself). “The chili and the slaw must be designed to be together, and their taste profiles must be complementary,” says Stanton Means, the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog’s “head weenie wonk.” “The slaw can be sweet if the chili is spicy, but less spicy chili requires a more subtle flavor in the slaw.”
Still, I’m partial to the chili-free simplicity of the Varsity’s slaw dog. It keeps the focus on the coleslaw, which is crafted to be the ideal partner to the hot dog itself. The Varsity’s slaw is on the drier side (and therefore won’t soak your bun), with minced cabbage rather than sliced—including some outer leaves for a deeper green—and a dash of orange from a carrot. It’s similar to Nu-Way’s time-honored slaw, though Nu-Way skips the carrot. “My father invented our [coleslaw] recipe,” Nu-Way president James Cacavias boasts. “We were getting a lot of requests for slaw dogs.”
I can see why. Once you acquire a taste for them, they’re easy to covet—even in the morning.
This article appears in our March 2019 issue.
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/dining-news/an-ode-to-southern-slaw-dogs/An ode to Southern slaw dogs It took a while for me to appreciate the joy of a boiled hot dog in a warmed bun, topped with biting yellow mustard that’s the perfect foil to sweet, tangy, creamy coleslaw. Slaw dogs first popped up in West Virginia in the early 1920s and became popular in that region during the Great Depression, when hot dogs and cabbage were affordable for most struggling families.
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2618]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1869
Joined: 8/13/02
|
Re: An ode to Southern slaw dogs
Mar 22, 2019, 2:43 PM
|
|
Had 2 for dinners Tuesday night. Yummiers!!! ??
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65977]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 24687
Joined: 6/12/14
|
Sweet tea, boiled peanuts, grits, slawdogs
Mar 22, 2019, 3:54 PM
|
|
and pecan pie.
If'n you don't like them, go back to Ohio
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [17449]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 5890
Joined: 7/1/03
|
My wife, who is from TX, thought I was nuts
Mar 22, 2019, 4:05 PM
|
|
...the first time we had hotdogs together, and I asked about cole slaw. She looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. Then, finally, she came over to south cackalack and had one with slaw. Homemade chili. Homemade slaw. Now she only looks at me like that when I ask to make sweet love.
|
|
|
|
|
Heisman Winner [112363]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 61263
Joined: 8/22/01
|
I've never been a fan of slaw on a Dawg.............
Mar 22, 2019, 5:59 PM
|
|
It's been years since trying though. Reading that article makes me want to try again, maybe.
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [17449]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 5890
Joined: 7/1/03
|
As the OP said, the chili to slaw pairing has to be right.
Mar 22, 2019, 10:02 PM
|
|
My dad makes the slaw. About the best I’ve ever had on a dog. Finely grates the cabbage. Finely grates the carrot. Dukes, S&P, and that’s it. It’s sofa king good. Even by itself. Then on the dog... MmmmMmmm! It’s even better on day 2. Really good on fish fry day, too. Prost my man!
|
|
|
|
Replies: 5
| visibility 407
|
|
|