Danish Hotdog

A Brief History of Danish Hotdogs

If you are a Dane then chances are you are a big hotdog fan. Growing up as a kid there was one on almost every corner. Whether you lived in a big city or a small town, they were everywhere. At one point in Copenhagen there were over 600 wagons in the city. They say that the Danish dog arrived in Denmark in 1921 from the U.S. They set up on the corners as little “polsevogne”. Self contained stands with little motors that propelled them to their spot in the mornings and took them home at night. Many have overhead and side baffles that folded out from the covered frame to shield customers from the cold winter wind and rain as well as the summer sun. You could cuddle in and order a hotdog and chocolate milk or soda to go with it. Some places you could even get a beer. Originally it was served on a piece of wax paper with a very red hotdog and a small toasted white bun with mustard and ketchup. Shortly thereafter they slit the small bun and inserted the dog. And so the Danish dog was born. When I was a child in the 60’s and 70’s, the toppings were pretty straight forward. Your choices were, raw onions, mustard, ketchup, remoulade (see recipe below), and/or crispy fried onions. Later they added a cucumber salad (see recipe below). You can get both a boiled dog or a “fried” dog if you wish or some have other sausages if you like. The hero of the story is the red dog.

When they first came out the dogs were more tan in color. Some say the red dye was added when they were too old to be sold commercially after they were a day old. Others say it was dipped in the dye when it was too old to be sold commercially after some time… The composition is 80% pork with the remainder being seasonings and filler. Either way it stuck. Now the boiled dogs are all red. The fried dogs are still tan and a bit thicker. Some places even have the fried ones wrapped in bacon!