Frank Talk

07.26.07

What Kobe beef is to Japan, hot dogs are to New Jersey. In the last few years, I've combed every corner of the state looking for the most interesting examples. There's a line that runs east and west through Newark—below it, the weenies are boiled or griddle fried, and served Italian-style with sautéed peppers and onions. Above it, the franks are deep fried, and usually garnished with mustard and sweet pickle relish, sometimes combined into a single condiment. The most famous example of this latter type is Rutt's Hut in Clifton, New Jersey, where deep frying rips the casing of the frank, and the done-ness is gauged by the magnitude of the tear. A frank with a nearly full-length tear is called A Ripper. One overcooked so that it's crazed with tears is called A Cremator. Note that these terms are used only by locals—if you say either, the hot dog guy will look at you like you're insane. Way in western New Jersey, but still in deep-fried territory, lies a place called Hot Dog Johnny's, located in the town of Buttzville. (I couldn't make this sort of thing up.) Built in the 1960s, the place looks like a flying saucer touched down on the banks of the Pequest River (again, not making this up), a swift-running tributary of the Delaware. Picnic tables are arrayed on one side of the building, and right down by the creek is the original wood-frame hot dog shack, built in 1944 and maintained for the amusement of modern patrons.

hotdog

The dogs are on the slender side, and come garnished with raw onions, mustard, and a sliver of dill pickle, reflecting the influence of German and Eastern European immigrants to the area. Johnny's offers good fries, too, and a rather unusual selection of beverages to wash it all down. There are two choices: The first is birch beer, a redder and sweeter cousin of root beer indigenous to this part of Jersey and adjacent Pennsylvania. It arrives in a frosted mug and is delicious matched with the strong flavor of the frank toppings. The other beverage choice comes as a complete surprise—buttermilk! On a hot summer day, the parking lot fills with cars and campers on the way to or from vacations and weekends in the country. A circus atmosphere prevails. Most youngsters and adults drink the birch beer and gobble a frank or two. It's only the oldsters that pick the buttermilk, which is served in the same frosty mugs. They claim it goes real well with the franks.

Subscribe to Gourmet